Please Save Me
by Silversphenix
Summary: Kidnapped as a young child and forcefully given a quirk he didn't want, Midoriya Izuku is living a life he never asked for, forced to become a villain despite his wishes. With his quirk, Izuku finds himself without friends or family and surrounded by criminals. However, after being given the order to infiltrate UA, he begins to think that maybe, just maybe, he can be saved.
1. Chapter 1

_"Mom, look!"_

_Inko looked up from where she worked in the kitchen, the high pitched squeal quickly grabbing her attention. In the next room, she could see her son on the computer, watching a very familiar video. He turned around and she saw his giant smile as he said, "All might is the best, isn't he Mom!"_

_She chuckled at that, "I still don't know why you love that video so much. Haven't you gotten tired of watching it by now?"_

_Her son huffed at her, sticking his tongue, "I could never get tired of watching All Might! He's way too cool!"_

_Once again, she could only roll her eyes as she turned back to the food sizzling on the cheap stove, "Of course, how could I forget. Dinner is almost ready, so why don't you turn off the computer and help me set the table."_

_"Okay, Mom!"_

* * *

Trembling hands fumbled with thin hoodie strings nervously as wide green eyes flickered about anxiously. Teeth chewed at thin lips in a nervous habit, fingers continuing to dance with the white strings on the green hoodie. Many people stood around the trembling teen, chatter and small talk filling out the cart as the train sped down the tracks. Green eyes flicked from one object to another, taking in everything they could and then some.

The train stopped and the teen exited the cart, following the flow of the crowd surrounding them. They quickly parted from the mass, ducking their heads as they jogged down the sidewalk, hurrying to their destination. Halfway to their destination, the ringtone from his phone blared out, making them jump and hurry to grab their phone from their pocket. When they did, they hastily accepted the call and put it next to their ear.

"You there yet?" A scratchy voice asked from the other side, not bothering with formalities.

"I'm nearly there," they whispered, continuing on their way. "Did you need something?"

A moment of silence passed before the other responded, "Not really. Be careful, Izu."

'Izu' nodded, despite the other not being able to see it. "I will." Green eyes noticed the large building they were looking for. Taking in a small breath, they gave their caller a swift farewell, "I have to go. Goodbye, Tou-nii."

They hung up without waiting for the other to reply, hurrying past the gates, thin fingers wrapping around the strands of the backpack slapping harshly against their back. Just as they were partially through the gate, they tripped, sprawling to the ground. However, before they hit the concrete, they suddenly stopped midair. Looking around, they noticed a small, petite girl standing just behind them, a shy smile on her lips.

"Sorry about that, but I couldn't just let you hit the ground…" She apologized sheepishly, holding up her hands placatingly. "That'd be, like, a bad omen or something."

They simply stared at her, unable to formulate words.

She didn't seem too bothered, letting them down gently and placing her fingertips together, whispering "release". When they landed on their feet, she smiled and offered a hand, "I'm Uraraka Ochako. And you are?"

"M-Midoriya I-Izuku…" They stuttered, not used to talking with girls. Or anyone in general, now that he thought it.

Uraraka beamed, a light blush ever-present on her cheeks. "Midoriya, huh… You're quite cute for a boy!"

He flushed, opening and closing his mouth, no words coming out. She simply laughed and patted his back. "Well, good luck, Midoriya-Kun!" With that, she left, running away before he could reply.

Izuku flushed, surprised he talked to a girl (despite the fact he didn't say anything), and followed her lead, hurrying into the school he was planning to attend.

Entering the building, Izuku was ushered to the testing area, where he finished the test within around fifteen minutes, despite being given an hour and a half. He had to wait for everyone else to finish before they were brought to the testing area, where the pro hero Present Mic told them about the rules. Izuku bit down his fanboy tendencies to gush about seeing the Present Mic in person, far too used to being punished for talking out of turn.

When the blonde hero finished, he quickly shouted "GO!" without even counting down, leaving most of the students flustered, but not Izuku. He was used to such things, so he rushed out, leaving most of the stumbling students behind. He pulled his backpack off and opened it, snatching a few pieces of paper and closed his eyes, focusing his quirk on them. It took a moment but the paper folded and molded at his will, changing sizes and form into what he wished. When he opened his eyes he was met with three small lion origamis made out of different colored paper.

One was plain white, another was a bright red, and the last was green. He smiled, and bent down, whispering to his creations, "We're going to have to take down robots today, okay? Please take down as many as you can, and Green," he said to the other two before turning to the green one, "if you see anyone injured, help them and then go around to make sure everyone is healthy and unhurt, okay?"

A stiff nod was met with his orders and the three lions set off, their small sizes morphing into larger, normal-sized lions before following their orders. Izuku smiled and closed his backpack, slinging it back on and hurrying after them. The red lion breathed out a stream of fire, easily melting the robots it came across while the white one froze many with its frosty breath. Izuku watched as the green one rushed to help heal the small wounds and cuts many students acquired, thanking it as it did so, the paper creature seemingly preening at the praise it received.

They continued like that, collecting many points by destroying robots and more by helping others, not that he'd know of that. Soon, the ground shook violently, and when everyone looked to see what it was, they turned tail and ran, screaming for their lives. Izuku simply stared up at the giant zero-point robot, eyes wide with fascination and awe. However, he was ripped from his admiration of the robot when he heard a plea for help. He turned to see the girl he met earlier that morning, Uraraka, trapped under some rubble, her leg hidden from sight from parts of a fallen building.

He set his face in a determined expression and ran to her help, his lions following. The red and white one immediately set to destroy the robot while the green one helped Izuku remove the rubble from the injured girl's leg, the emerald-colored lion gingerly touching its nose to her leg and healing her injury. Uraraka just stared in awe as the injury disappeared. Behind them, the other two lions easily ripped the giant robot to scrap metal.

Izuku simply smiled at her shyly, his voice quiet and hesitant, "A-are you okay?"

Uraraka just stared up at him, eyes wide and mouth agape as she asked her question, her voice filled with confusion and awe, "Who… Who_ are_ you?"

He was confused, furrowing his brow. Did she forget his name already? "I'm Midoriya.

Midoriya Izuku."


	2. Chapter 2

Izuku toyed with the hem of his shirt, the uniform a size too big for him. He was finally entering the school of his dreams, even if his motive for doing so had been slightly perverted, despite his wishes for it not to be. The scarred teen walked through the halls cautiously, making his way to his new classroom. He paused at the doorway, taking in the large frame before hesitantly opening it.

Inside the classroom were just a few students and twenty desks placed in neat rows. Minus himself, there were only four other students there: one was a male who had neat dark blue hair with weird eyebrows, pristine square glasses placed atop his nose; another was an elegant female with black hair tied up in a ponytail; the third was just a floating female uniform, but it was moving animatedly and a voice was talking back to the black-haired female, so Izuku just assumed it was a person; the last person was a male with red-and-white hair, both colors taking half of the hair, splitting neatly in the middle, an obvious scar on his face.

He felt his face heat up slightly when his eyes met with blue-and-grey ones, looking away quickly. Izuku had accepted that he found both males and females attractive, so he had no problems admitting the other male was quite the looker.

"Oh, hello!" A cheery voice called out to him, bringing his attention to the floating uniform. The voice was feminine and adding that to the uniform it was, Izuku assumed it was a female who bound up to him. "Nice to meet you! I'm Hagakure Tooru! What's your name?"

"M-Midoriya I-Izuku." He stuttered, not expecting such an upbeat person coming up to him. Glancing around, he asked, "W-Why are you all here s-so early?"

"Oh, I was just too excited last night and when I woke up after finally falling asleep, I thought I was late." Hagakure admitted sheepishly. "Momo's chauffeur was dropping her off when I got here, and Iida-kun and Todoroki-kun were already here when we came in!"

"It is unacceptable to be late for class," the male with the glasses stated, walking up to them, "good morning! I am Iida Tenya! It is nice to meet you."

Izuku nodded, introduced himself shyly, and watched as the other female walked over to the trio. She smiled politely, placing a hand on her chest, "It's nice to meet you, Midoriya-san, I'm Yaoyorozu Momo. I am looking forward to becoming good friends with all of you," she said, addressing everyone else at the end.

He nodded. "I-It's nice to meet you as well Y-Yaoyorozu-san."

Iida suddenly spoke up, grabbing the attention of the small group, "Midoriya, I must hand it to you, you divined the actual nature of the practical skills exam, didn't you?" He glanced away, eyes closing as frustration clouded his face, "I... was blind to it! I hate to admit it but, you are the better man!"

Izuku lifted a hand to scratch at the back of his head as he nervously laughed.

_But... I didn't realize it either!_

After that the group chattered on about whatever came to mind, Iida leaving a few minutes into the conversation to welcome the few students that trickled in a few minutes after Izuku. Hagakure did most of the talking, Yaoyorozu adding in her thoughts every once in a while.

"Yeah, my quirk's kinda obvious…" Hagakure admitted sheepishly, "what about you, Madoriya? Momo and I already talked about our quirks, after all!"

The green-haired teen, who had taken out his notebook and was writing down everything he could about the girls' quirks, snapped his head up, staring at them owlishly. He smiled slightly, a bit embarrassed that he didn't even consider that he'd have to share his quirk as well. "Ah, well, it's not as cool as either of yours…" He flipped to the back of his notebook and ripped a page out before setting it on the table. Focusing his quirk on it, the paper folded itself into a small rabbit, paper nose twitching slightly, ears flicking.

Hagakure squealed while Yaoyorozu placed a hand over her mouth, both staring at the tiny bunny in awe and adoration.

"It's so cute!" Hagakure squeaked, bouncing around the desk it was on, the head of the rabbit following her movements.

"I-I can make paper into whatever I-I want," Izuku admitted. "A-And depending on the c-color o-of the paper, it has special abilities."

If the invisible girl's eyes were visible, Izuku was certain that they would have had stars in them. She gasped, turning towards him. "Really? That's so cool !"

He smiled shyly, happy to hear that. Yaoyorozu was nodding in agreement to Hagakure's words, trembling slightly from what Izuku assumed was from happiness from seeing the cute little bunny. At least, that's what he hoped it was. Before either of them could ask more questions, a gasp was heard and Madoriya turned around to see Uraraka standing in front of a still-open door. She looked over the classroom, her gaze falling upon him. "Ah! It's you! Curly-hair kid!" She stepped forward and waved at him, "Glad I found you!"

He felt himself slightly relax in the presence of the girl he saved, _It's her! The nice girl!_ He then saw her attire and slightly blushed as he took it in, _She looks amazing in school garb!_

She continued in her excited rant, "I just knew you would make it! Those lions of yours were out of this world!"

That had him remember something he saw when he had gotten his acceptance letter. He had already been freaking out by the fact that All Might himself was going to be teaching at Yuuei, but then he had seen how she had gone in after the exam and offered to give him her points as thanks for saving her life. Nobody had ever done something for him before and he shuffled his feet as he nervously responded, "N-not really. I should, uh, t-thank you f-for offering to give me some of your p-points, i-it, um, really meant a lot to me..."

She tilted her head to the side, "Huh? How did you know about that?"

Before he was given the chance to answer, though, the classroom door slid open and their gaze went over to it before falling to the floor, where a yellow sleeping bag lay. After a few silent moments, the bag moved, slithering up to the podium and hopping up, slowly unzipping itself.

A tired-looking man's head popped out, gazing at the now filled classroom with a bored, blank expression. "If you're here to make friends, you can go ahead and leave right now."

Izuku flinched at his cold tone, hurrying to an empty seat, Hogakure, Uraraka, and Yaoyarozu following his lead.

"Hurry up, grab a uniform and meet me outside." After saying that, he threw a pile of gym uniforms on top of the podium before slinking out, not bothering to wait for them.

Izuku pursed his lips and, along with his classmates, hurried to grab a uniform and go to where the changing rooms were. What had he gotten himself into? Behind him, he didn't notice the two looks he got from a certain blond, one a pair of crimson eyes burning a hole into the seemingly weak and scrawny boy, and the other a mismatched pair that gazed at him in wary curiosity.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a nice day, all things considered. The sun was shining ever so brightly and the breeze rustled through the tree. Izuku would have loved to just soak it all in if he wasn't currently having a midlife crisis. It was just supposed to be a simple Quirk Apprehension test!

It had started simply enough, with that one boy with that _amazing_ quirk. The way he threw the ball was so, _explosive_. _Literally_. He was kind of jealous, a quirk that was so adaptable was bound to be perfect for an aspiring hero. Then after that Mr. Aizawa had announced the rules.

Their teacher, Mr. Aizawa(Aka: Eraserhead, yes he did his research), thought they weren't taking this seriously enough and had just threatened to expel the student who came in last place!

_ There's no way... Can he even do that?!_

Mr. Aizawa started speaking again and Izuku forced himself to pay attention to his tired teacher. "This is 'Plus Ultra' I expect you to overcome these trials and climb to the top."

Around him, he could see how his classmates gathered themselves, determination filling the fear that had moments before, filled their faces. He just continued to shake slightly as multiple images filled his mind. Him getting kicked out, going back to the base and being punished for his failure, him being _killed_ for his incompetency-

Let's just say, he was not in the right mindset for this.

continued, "Now then, that was the demonstration.

Time to step up to the plate."

* * *

"3.04 seconds!"

Izuku stared in awe at Iida. Well, at least now he knew what his quirk was. Honestly, he was surprised he didn't figure it out sooner, the exhaust pipes coming out of his calves made it pretty obvious.

More people stepped up to the line and he got caught up in memorizing everything he could about everyone. All of this would need to be recorded later in his journal, no matter if he stayed or not. It was still valuable information.

Soon enough it was his turn and he nervously stepped up to the start line. He still hadn't come up with a plan to utilize his quirk in any way. The best he could come up with was running as fast as he could. There was only so much he could do with his quirk, after all, it was _paper._ And it wasn't like he had brought much with him. He hadn't been planning on having to use it on the first day.

Getting into a running position, he noticed that the blond-haired boy from earlier was also at the starting line. He gulped, somehow he just knew that Bakugou was going to do something drastic.

"Start!"

Izuku bolted from his place, wanting to get as high of a score as possible. Suddenly, explosions came from behind him and Bakugo rocked passed him, almost knocking him from his feet in the process. After regaining his balance, Izuku managed to cross the finish line with a time of 6.42 seconds. Not too bad, considering the other students who hadn't used their quirks.

He glanced at Bakugou for a moment, the teen standing off to the side and ignoring everyone else. Izuku would definitely be writing about him in his journal. The blond was way too strong for him not to. Not to mention Sensai would want to know more about the student who placed first in the entrance exam.

The next test was a grip strength test. It wasn't his best area of expertise, so he took out a piece of paper and focused. a second later a small gorilla was sitting in his palms, waiting for instructions. Izuku knelt and placed the gorilla on the ground, where it then proceeded to grow into a slightly adolescent sized gorilla. "Take this," he held out the grip thing, "and squeeze it as hard as you can."

The white gorilla looked at the thing before taking it and almost crushing it with his brute strength. Izuku took a moment to marvel at the sight before realizing he should probably tell it to stop before he _actually_ crushed it.

"Okay, you can stop now," he said, nervous energy causing him to tremble slightly.

A dull thunk sounded as the gorilla dropped the grip meter. Izuku reached down to grab it when suddenly a floating pair of gloves snatched it away. His head flew up to see Hagakure, Yaoyorozu, and Uraraka looking at his grip meter in awe.

"Wow! 578 kilos! That's amazing Midoriya-kun!" Uraraka said, jaw hanging open.

"Yeah! I didn't even get close to that!" Hagakure exclaimed, and though he couldn't see her face, he knew that was excited due to her uniform jumping up and down.

Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement, surprise also on her face, "It was very creative of you to use your quirk like that." She held up one of her hands, which had a strange-looking contraption on it, "I created this to enhance my strength."

Izuku nodded before realizing this was his chance to gather information on her quirk. His stomach turned with the thought, but he knew what would happen if he didn't gather enough information.

"S-So, how exactly does your q-quirk work?" He asked, trying to keep the nervousness from his voice.

"Oh!" she said, "My quirk allows me to use the lipids in my body to create any object or objects I desire. But if I create too much I can run out of energy and collapse."

He nodded, mentally filing away the information.

"Alright everyone," Mr. Aizawa's voice silenced the entire room, despite it being no louder than his normal volume. "It's time to move on to the next test. If you haven't already, write down your score and then follow me."

With that, he turned around and moved out the doors of the gymnasium to a track looking area. After writing their score, everyone followed him to where a sandpit sat in the ground.

After Mr. Aizawa explained the rules, everyone got into a single file line. Izuku ended up near the middle while his friends(?) wound up somewhere near the rear. As he got in line, he noticed he was behind the cute guy from earlier. He felt his face heat up slightly just by looking at him, the way his classmate's red and white hair swayed in the wind stirred something in his stomach.

"Hey!"

Izuku nearly had a heart attack at the sudden, loud voice that came from behind him. He started trembling slightly as he glanced behind him.

"You're Izuku Midoriya, right?" The excited voice continued. Behind him was one of his classmates. His red hair contrasted sharply with his gym uniform, spiking up unnaturally. He searched his brain for a name but came up empty. "My name is Eijiro Kirishima! I've been wanting to talk to you since I heard about how many rescue points you got! I don't think anyone has ever gotten as much as you did! Seriously! That's so manly!"

Izuku was taken aback at just how loud and energetic Kirishima was. He had to glance away in order to organize his thoughts. His hair shadowed over his eyes as he stammered out a response. "O-oh, th-thank y-you..."

Kirishima just grinned and pat his shoulder roughly, "No Problem my man! By the way, it's almost your turn."

His eyes widened and he quickly turned around to see his red and white-haired classmate boost himself to the other side of the sandpit using ice. Izuku could only stare in awe at how beautiful his classmate looked with his hair settling back on his face and his tiny ice crystals seemed to make the air around him shimmer. He looked up and met his gaze and Izuku blushed furiously as he stepped up to the edge of the sandpit, head low as he tried to hide his face. Shaking his head to clear his scrambled thoughts, he crouched down low. He was about to launch himself forward when the image of a pair of heteromorphic eyes flashed in the front of his mind. He slipped mid-launch and ended up falling headfirst into the sand. Groaning, he lifted his head and rubbed his forehead to try and chase away the pain. Looking up, he caught sight of everyone watching him. Some of them were laughing, others(his friends) watching with concern. He then saw his duel hair colored classmate(crush) looking away with disinterest. Izuku looked down in shame, how could he ever expect to become a hero-

He cut off that train of thought, eyes wide when he realized his mistake.

_Right,_ He got up and brushed himself off, _I'm not here to become a hero._

He walked off the sand and went to wait with the others who had already gone. He didn't notice how the others did, too focused on berating himself for his careless mistake. Thoughts ran circles in his mind. Tou-nii and Sensai standing over him, beating him, _torturing_ him. Another memory pushed itself to the forefront of his mind, this one hurting more than any other. It was of that one classmate of his, the one that he can't stop thinking about, the one where he just _looked away._

He tried, he really did, to rid himself of these dark thoughts, but the hard he tried, the more they seemed to hurt him more. Tears started to prick at his eyes(he hadn't cried in _years_) and he hid his face so that no one could see his red face and eyes as he desperately tried to calm himself. Now wasn't the time or place to start having a breakdown, he still had 5 more tests to do.

Everyone around him didn't seem to notice his small breakdown, too absorbed in talking to each other to notice how Madoriya hadn't looked up or said a word since his turn. No one even saw how he had started shaking, hands clenched tightly at his sides.

He could only hope that he would continue to blend into the background. That was what was good at anyway, right?

"Hey, you! Broccoli head!"

Just his luck.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, you! Broccoli head!"

Just his luck.

Izuku took a deep breath, the yelling actually helping him in clearing his thoughts. He tried to look up and see who it was, but his shame made it hard to do anything expect shrink into himself.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Suddenly, he was looking into two crimson eyes as his head was yanked upwards. He instantly recognized him as Katsuki Bakugo, the student who had scored first in the entrance exam.

Bakugo huffed at the lack of reaction he got and let go of his hair. "What? Still embarrassed that you completely _failed_ at that test?"

The mocking tone that Bakugo used cut deep into Izuku. He looked away from the blonde's gaze, unable to meet those hate-filled eyes any longer. They reminded him too much of-

He stopped that thought before it could complete.

Bakugo apparently took his silence as and answer and grinned, "What, you gonna cry?" He laughed, "What a weakling!" His laughter died down and Izuku could hear how the rest of the students had started to gather around them. His thoughts and feelings from earlier had all but vanished, replaced with fear and a weird sense of morbid curiosity. Even though he had been surrounded by strange and not so sane people his entire life, he had never seen someone act so extremely to a stranger. He had never even met Bakugo before.

"That's enough." A stern but monotone voice interrupted Bakugo before he could say anything else.

Everyone turned to see their teacher standing there looking bored, everyone apparently having finished the standing long jumps already. Izuku sighed a breath of relief as Bakugo backed down, having enough sense to know not to get on the bad side of their teacher.

"Now if you're all done picking fights, it's time for the next test." With that he turned and made his way to where the track lines lined up next to each other. Izuku glanced over to where Bakugo was now walking away, his stiff posture showing everyone the anger he was still clearly feeling. He was honestly terrified of setting him off. Izuku may not have shown it at the time, but he had been scared for his life. Bakugo was unpredictable, and that's what scared him the most.

"Izuku!" He started at the use of his first name, not expecting anyone to ever use it, "are you alright? I wanted to stop him, but Mr. Aizawa beat me to it." Izuku turned to see Uraraka run up to him, Hagakure, Yaoyorozu, and Iida following after her.

"I-It's okay Uraraka. He didn't Hurt me or anything," Izuku said.

Uraraka frowned, "Are you sure? You looked pretty scared when he forced you to look at him."

Izuku winced at that, his fingers fiddling with the sleeve of his uniform. He hadn't been in a very good mindset when he had been interrupted, though it had been a nice distraction from the self deprecating thoughts that tended to consume him. The fog that had filled his mind was now in the back of his mind, never completely leaving but weak enough to where he could control and suppress it. Now that he thought about it, the fog had really been plaguing his mind for as long as he could remember. Was this a problem? Did he need to mention this to Tou-nii? Definitely not to sensai though, he wouldn't care. Though maybe-

"Umm, Izuku?" Uraraka's voice broke him from his thoughts, "Are you sure you're okay? You started mumbling all of a sudden and I'm kind of worried."

Izuku's face heated up as he realized he had been muttering his thoughts out loud, "O-of c-course I'm o-okay! R-really!" She didn't look convinced, but let it go in favor of dragging him to where the other students had gathered around Mr. Aizawa. Once they reached the group, he felt his friends swarm around him, creating a sort of protective wall between him and his other classmates. Embarrassment climbed up his face and he had to face himself to stop fidgeting and listen to what Mr. Aizawa was saying.

"The next test is line jumps. This is pretty simple, all you have to do is move between these two lines as many times as you can within the time limit."

Many of his classmates started whispering to each other about who would do the best, though one of the students stepped forward. He was small, probably the shortest in the class, and had strange purple balls in place of hair. Now that he thought about it, he had seen him hanging around the girls, staring way too weirdly at them for it to be normal.

The short student puffed out his chest, "Don't worry girls," all of the girls cringed, "I've got this." He then proceeded to throw the purple balls on the lines, creating a weird purple wall. Mr. Aizawa gave him the signal and he started bouncing himself rapidly between the lines.

The timer went off and the purple haired pervert somehow stopped himself. The purple balls were removed and it was time for the next student.

Everyone looked at each other, no one quite willing to try it out for themselves. Mr. Aizawa just blinked at this, before raising the clipboard in his hand, "Then I guess I'll just have to pick someone." He looked down at the clipboard before saying a name, "Izuku Midoriya."

Izuku blinked, then his nerves caught up to him and he broke out into a cold sweat. He hadn't been expecting to be picked, so he was completely unprepared.

He shuffled up to the lines and tried to steel his nerves. It didn't help much, but at least his slight shaking had gone away.

"Start."

He hopped as quickly as he could from foot to foot, making sure to stay on the lines as he did so. His training proved to be beneficial as he got quite a few passes in before Mr. Aizawa called time.

Izuku sighed in relief as he went to the other side to wait for his friends. Mr. Aizawa wrote something down on the clipboard and then looked back up, "Now, do I need to-"

"I'll go!"

Everyone turned to look in surprise at Yaoyorozu, who was now walking forward to the lines. She was wearing some type of spring on the soles of her feet which were causing her to bounce as she walked. Standing on the lines, she waited for Mr. Aizawa to call start before bouncing between the lines. It looked a little awkward, but she managed to make it work as she made many passes before time was called.

She was sweating a little bit as she took off the springs and walked over to him. He was concerned, but when he asked about it she just waved it off as being tired. "Don't worry! It's just that I've been making some things that are more complicated, so it takes a little more out of me. I'll be fine once I eat something." He nodded and once again added to the growing profile he had of her. Guilt still pooled in his gut, but he also found joy in collecting information on heroes. Er, well, _future_ heroes in this case. It had always been a hobby of his, but he hated how something he loved doing so much was now being turned against people he admired.

Yaoyorozu and him watched as Hagakure and Uraraka volunteered next. Uraraka used her quirk to make herself lighter and Hagakure used the same method that Izuku did.

They chatted quietly to each other for the rest of the test, Izuku giving half of his attention to the conversation and half to his classmates. He evaluated how each of them used their quirks and what they could do. The information he had on his classmates steadily grew as he saw each and every strength and faulted each of them demonstrated. Some of them he still had trouble reading, like Kirishima or that one guy with huge lips, but he figured he could always ask them later.

Soon enough, Iida and even Kirishima joined them. He introduced them to another student named Kaminari and they told them about their quirks. Kirishima apologized for Bakugou's behavior and when questioned, he told them that him and Kaminari were trying to become Bakugou's friends. Izuku doubted that they would get very far, but he encouraged them anyways, hoping that they would be able tame the seemingly untamable beast that was Katsuki Bakugou.

Izuku smiles, he had never had a friend before and he was, gaining friends left and right. He had found out what Kirishima's and Kaminari's quirks were as well, so he now had solid information on 7 of his classmates. His smile faltered at that thought, but he shook it off, not wanting anything to ruin this perfect moment between his friends. He might not be talking much himself, but he was happy to sit back and listen to his friends talk about whatever. It felt nice. It felt normal.

It was too soon when Mr. Aizawa announced the end of the test. Their group was forced to stop talking as they went to the same baseball field they had been on earlier. The rules were clear and simple, just throw the ball and see how far you can get it. Everyone went in an orderly fashion once again, this time Izuku going near the end. He saw how Bakugo through the ball even further than he did before, and how Uraraka got _infinity_. Giving her a small smile, he went on next. He got in the ready position and threw it as hard as he could.

"74 meters."

Izuku grinned when Mr. Aizawa announced his score, feeling pride in his raw strength. He walked over to where Uraraka stood to wait for the rest of his friends. Hagakure, Kirishima, and Iida just threw the ball like he did, while Yaoyorozu made some sort of slingshot thingy and Kaminari somehow got his electricity to boost his ball.

Izuku smiled while his friends gathered around him again. He had never felt something like this before. This... this feeling of _belonging_. Of being _wanted_. It was the best feeling in the world!

For the rest of the tests he forgot about observing his classmates. He forgot about why he was there. For that small bit of time, he was just a normal school boy having fun with his friends.


	5. Chapter 5

"And I was lying, no one's going home."

Izuku nearly passed out from the shock. His name was on the bottom of the list, right below Mineta, who he learned was the short, purple-haired pervert from earlier. He had been scared to _death_ about being kicked out. Sensai and tou-nii would have been _furious_.

Mr. Aizawa continued after a moment, a sadistic smile crossing his face, "That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all."

Everyone paused for a moment before freaking out. Yaoyorozu looked at us in surprise before saying, "You guys didn't realize? I'm sorry, I guess I should have said something." We just looked at her, all thinking the same thing.

_ Yeah, you should have._

Mr. Aizawa then turned around and headed back towards the school, "That's it, we're done for the day. Grab a syllabus on your way back to the classroom. Read it over by tomorrow morning."

The students just stared at their teachers retreating back before his words caught up to them. "What?! He lied to us!" Uraraka exclaimed. His friends nodded in agreement, some voicing their displeasure while others just looked relieved that none of them were being kicked out.

Izuku himself was just happy he wasn't going to go home a failure. Actually, he was just happy that the day was over. Don't get him wrong, he enjoyed his new friends, but he was mentally and emotionally exhausted from how much talking he'd had to do today. Not to mention the temporary breakdown he had during the test. He was just looking forward to sleeping if he was honest.

His classmates started disbanding, some heading out alone while most others left in groups. It seemed that the injustice of today was being forgotten in favor of hanging out with friends.

"Hey Guys! Why don't we head out to the mall or something! It'll be fun!" Hagakure said excitedly. If he had been able to see her face, he would've bet it was brighter than the sun as she bounced up and down excitedly.

The rest of his friends quickly agreed and it wasn't long before everyone was staring at him, waiting for his answer. He wanted so desperately to go and hang out with them, even if he was more tired then he's been in a long time, he didn't want to disappoint his new friends.

_If he was being honest with himself, he was terrified that they would leave him._

But he couldn't. He wasn't allowed to go and _hang out_. It was against the rules that let him even see the light of day in the first place.

Lowering his head, he regretfully declined, "I'm sorry guys. My-" he nearly chocked on the words, "_parents_, don't like me staying out."

The disappointment was clear as day on their faces. Especially Uraraka's and Iida's.

Kirishima grinned at him, "Don't worry dude! That's alright. We understand, right guys?"

The rest of his friends quickly nodded, smiles breaking out on their faces again. Uraraka stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Yeah! Like Kirishima said, it's okay! Maybe you can talk to your parents and convince them to let you join us next time."

Izuku blushed at the sudden physical contact. He was unused to comforting gestures, in fact, he was unused to physical contact of any sort. The people he grew up around weren't really the touchy-feely type of people.

"Y-yeah, I-I'll talk t-to them about I-it," he managed to stutter out.

Apparently his friends found this cute, as they suddenly started cooing over him.

_Snap!_

His head shot up as he heard the sound of a camera. He saw Hagakure trying to hid her phone from him by quickly shoving it behind her back. A squeak escaped his mouth as he quickly turned around and started power walking back to the classroom. His bangs fell down in front of his, effectively hiding his tomato red face.

He could hear his friends calling out to him in a teasing tone, but he refused to turn around. They would just make fun of him more.

Embarrassment crawled up his spine, heating up his face more and stinging his eyes. The tears wouldn't fall though, he made sure of that.

Before he knew it, he was in front of the 1-a classroom once more. The scene almost identical to this morning. The only difference being the other students that were now entering the classroom as well.

Taking a deep breath, he walked through the door. Embarrassment still twisted in his stomach like a snake, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before.

Inside the classroom, there were more of his classmates gathered around, talking in little groups as the grabbed their things. He spotted his things on the desk he had chosen earlier. He walked over and grabbed all of his things, slipping his backpack onto his shoulders, and turned towards Mr. Aizawa's desk. There was a stack of papers on the desk, facing outwards. He could only guess that this was the syllabus that they were supposed to read. Grabbing one, he stuffed it into his backpack before leaving.

As he was walking out the door, he suddenly felt himself run into someone, almost causing both of them to fall over.

Luckily, he caught himself and groaned, rubbing his forehead. He had hit his head pretty hard with the other person's.

Other person...

Oh crap!

He quickly regained his posture, though his head remained lowered. Izuku couldn't stand to look the other person in the eye, "I-I'm s-so s-sorry! I wa-wasn't looking w-where I was g-going. Again, I-I'm sorry!"

He heard a grunt from the person, though he couldn't tell if it was from pain or annoyance.

"It's okay. I should have been watching where I was going as well." The person's voice was somewhat deep, and it was soft with understanding.

Izuku felt his eyes widen. He had expected the other to at least be a little angry. "A-are you sure? I did run into you after all..." his voice trailed off at the end, shame closing up his throat.

A thought suddenly entered his mind and his eyes shot up to the other as he said, "O-oh! Are you hurt or-"

He couldn't speak. In front of him stood one of his classmates. But it wasn't just any of them, it was _him._

Oh_ shit._

A flustered feeling burst into his chest as green met grey and blue. Izuku could feeling his face get warmer, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from those _eyes_.

"I'm fine. Though I should really be asking you that. You hit your head pretty hard." Izuku suddenly had to focus as his classmate started talking again. He just blinked for a moment before his mind finally registered what he had said. His face burned as he quickly turned his head to the side, trying to hid behind his hair, "O-oh, I'm just fine! Th-though it was your head that I hit it on, so I'm j-just glad you aren't hurt or anything."

His classmate just stared at him for a moment, as if gaging I'd he was really telling the truth, before nodding, "That's good. You're Izuku Midoriya, right?" Izuku nodded sheepishly, "I'm Shouto Todoroki." He extended his right hand and Izuku shakily took it.

"Hey idiots!" Both of them jumped at the sudden loud voice. Both of them turned to see Bakugou standing behind them, an ever present scowl on his face. "_Some_ of us want to go inside," a growl accompanied the statement, making Izuku flinch and shuffle his feet.

He was about to apologize when Todoroki beat him to it, "Of course, my apologies, Bakugou." He then stepped to the side and Izuku scrambled to follow suit. Bakugou stormed past them, muttering profanities the whole way.

Izuku sighed once Bakugou passed him, releasing a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.

"I should probably be going now."

He looked back over to where Todoroki stood checking his phone. Izuku quickly nodded and moved to let him pass through the door as well, "S-so, I guess I'll see you t-tomorrow then?" He asked quietly, nervous about his answer.

To his relief, Todoroki simply nodded, "Yeah."

And with that, Todoroki entered the classroom, leaving him to just stand there. He would have stayed there too, if he hadn't heard the familiar voices of his friends coming from the hallway. Images of Hagakure taking pictures of him flashed through his mind were enough to get him moving again, his encounter with Todoroki momentarily forgotten as he focused on avoiding his friends. It's not that he didn't want to see them again, he just didn't think he could handle the embarrassment of being called cute again.

Izuku finally exited the classroom and turned in the opposite direction of where the voices were coming from. He still didn't know the layout of the building, but he was sure that there was another exit.

After successfully avoiding his friends and being temporarily lost, he found himself walking out the gates of Yueei. He spared a moment to look glade behind him to the building. It had always been his dream to attend this very school, and now that he was he thought he would have been overjoyed. And while still felt awe and pride when he thought about having made it, he couldn't help but notice the hole where his happiness should have been. He had made it, yes, but not under the circumstances he wanted to. This felt fake. It felt _disgusting_. Like he was betraying all of his morals by doing this.

Shaking off his thoughts, he turned and started in the direction of the base.

He had made it about halfway down the street when a familiar anger-filled voice called out behind him, "Hey broccoli head!"

He barely had time to turn around when he was suddenly grabbed by the collar and shoved against the wall. All he could see was Bakugou's fiery eyes as he was forced to look at him. "You should have been fucking kicked out; you're too weak to be here. I saw how you did on the tests. You failed every single _fucking_ test, so it makes no sense that you're still here!" Izuku flinched as Bakugo ouches the area of wall right next to his head.

"The teacher made a mistake letting you stay." He suddenly smirked, "You're just a worthless _Deku_. Remember that. Compared to me, you're _nothing_."

Bakugou then let go of his collar and walked in the opposite direction as if none of that had happened.

Izuku was thrown off slightly by the sudden change in mood, but he soon became overwhelmed with relief. For a second there, he had thought that Bakugo was going to blow his head off.

After taking a moment to calm himself, he slowly got up and dusted himself off. Bakugou was long gone now, leaving him to stand all by himself in the middle of the sidewalk. Izuku glanced around once more, making sure that no one else was approaching him. Down the street where he came from, he could still see students filtering out the gates, but none of them seemed to be heading in his direction. Sighing with relief, he turned and continued down the street.

It took a bit of time, and he had to ride the train, but he eventually made his way into the part of the city where the base was. It was one of the more run down parts of the city, and was pretty shady, but he made do.

As he made his way down a dark street, he failed to notice the shadows move as they passed him. He was just passing by one of the alleyways when a dark figure suddenly leapt out and dragged him into the shadows. His yelp was quickly muffled by a black hand covering his mouth, not that it would have helped. The street was barren, no one walked these streets if they could help it.

He felt the hand release his mouth, only to return with a knife to his throat.

"Alright kid, you look like you could spare some money. Hand it over and no one gets hurt," the shadowy figure said. Izuku couldn't make out anything from the figure as they seemed to blend almost impeccably into the darkness. Must have been something to do with his quirk.

He gulped, he had some money on him, sure, but he knew the person wouldn't be satisfied with what little he had. Getting out of this peacefully wasn't an option.

Scanning his surroundings, he was disappointed to see nothing of use in the alley. At most there was a dumpster and a few trash bags. Other than that, there was nothing.

He returned his gaze to the thug, who was clearly getting impatient. His mind wandered to what he had on his person and an idea suddenly popped into his mind.

Quickly, he put on a scared face and pretended to comply with his demands. "O-ok, can I get it out of my pocket?"

The thug looked at him for a moment before nodding, "Alright, just don't try anything funny, got it?"

Izuku nodded, internally smiling. This guy was obviously new to these sorts of things. He slowly reached behind him and into his back pocket to where his money was. Slowly pulling it out, he presented the two crumpled bills to the man.

He looked at it and grunted, "Is this all ya got? Only 2,000 yen? Come on, that can't be all ya-"

The money sudden exploded into two large lions, forcing the man away from him and onto the ground. Growling could be heard as the paper lions stood protectively infront of Izuku.

"Wh-what are those?!" The man yelped, scrambling backwards. Izuku didn't respond, panting from the effort of turning money into lions. Money was made of special paper, so it was very hard to command. He hadn't even been completely sure it would work.

A long moment passed, the only sounds being Izuku's panting and the lions growling. The thug suddenly scrambled to his feet and ran out of the alley, feet hitting the ground hard.

Izuku, for the second time that day, nearly fainted from relief. Seriously, people needed to stop scaring him so much. It surely wasn't healthy.

The lions turned to look at him, one of them leaning close to sniff at his neck. It was then that he realized that there was a small cut on his neck that faintly stung. He raised a hand and lightly touched it, but drew it back with a wince. He looked at his hand and saw a bit of red on his fingers. Groaning, he reached into his other back pocket and brought out some paper folded into little squares. He grabbed a green one and put the others back. The lions continued to keep watch as he summoned a small bunny. It was one of the most simple ones he could do, and in this state, he couldn't do much else.

The bunny looked up at him before hopping it's way up his neck and onto his shoulder, where it then continued on to put its tiny little nose on the cut. The stinging went away and with its job complete, the bunny unfurled itself, turning back into the square of paper it had been before.

Grabbing the green paper, he put it back into his back pocket before dismissing the lions. They bowed their heads and turned back into two bills. Izuku picked the bills up from where they now lay on the ground. Stuffing the back into his pocket, he quickly left the alley. The thug was nowhere to be seen and there was still no one else on the street.

After double checking to make sure he wouldn't get jumped again, he continued on his way. The base wasn't too far away, and he didn't think he'd get jumped again in such a short distance. Then again, today hadn't been his day, so he kept his guard up.

It wasn't long before he was standing in front of an abandoned looking building, front door missing and almost every window broken. Sighing, he stepped inside, careful to avoid broken glass and nails. At a passing glance, it would appear that the building had absolutely nothing worth while inside. But he knew better.

The front was just a ruse to keep people from entering the building. In fact, right behind the entrance was a sturdy door. A lock was present as to keep any homeless people from wandering in, but other than that, one could enter without a problem.

Stepping up to the door, he gave a knock on the door and then stepped back. A minute passed and nothing happened. Izuku fidgeted and was about to knock again when the door swung open.

He looked up and locked eyes with the person inside. He cracked a nervous smile,

"I-I'm back, Tou-nii."


	6. Chapter 6

The pale figure in front of him just stood there for a moment before stepping to the side, "Welcome back, Izu-kun. Kurogiri is waiting for you at the bar."

Izuku blinked. This couldn't be Shigaraki, he was being way too nice. The most Shigaraki had ever said to him when he came back was a short hi. Though even with that being said, Shigaraki was the closest Izuku had come to making friends in the League of Villians(he still laughed at their chosen name).

Shigaraki grunted and Izuku quickly walked inside, being sure not to touch him on the way by. He hated being touch in any way unless it was by Sensei.

Like Shigaraki said, Kurogiri was standing behind the bar, cleaning a glass. Kurogiri looked up when he entered and put the glass down. He nodded before saying, "Ah, welcome back Midoriya. Sensei was wanting to talk to you when you got back."

Izuku just nodded. He felt like he was in a completely different world. That was probably the most Kurogiri had ever spoken to him in one sitting, and Izuku hadn't even talked back. Something definitely felt off.

Going to the hallway near the back, he opened one of the smaller doors and dumped his stuff just inside. It was his room, but he didn't like it much. The room was small and the only furniture was a tiny mattress shoved in the corner which took up most of the space. But he preferred to stay in there then be anywhere else in the base.

Closing the door, he continued on to the end of the hallway where a large door waited for him. It almost reminded him of the door for classroom 1-a. But this one looked over him ominously, and knowing what waited for him on the other side just worsened the feeling.

A shiver ran down his spine as he raised his fist. It hovered there for a long moment, as if deciding on whether or not to actually knock. The logical part of him won out and he rapped an almost inaudible knock against the wood. His body froze as he waited.

"Come in..."

He flinched at the raspy and deep voice. He didn't hear it very often, but what memories he did have of it weren't pleasant.

Grabbing the handle, he turned it gently, no sudden moves now. It was careful trodding from here on, any wrong movements could mean the end. The hinges squealed slightly as the door slowly opened, just further adding to the creepy feeling crawling up his spine. His saliva was thick as he gulped, not knowing what else to do.

The door opened the rest of the way to reveal a nearly pitch black room. A faint light could be seen from a few nearby machines and the light from the hallway filtered in, but it was enough. He could very clearly see a large tv that showed a hunched over figure , sitting in a chair that faced the camera. The figure slowly sat up and Izuku's breath hitched as he saw the face(or lack thereof) of the figure. He didn't think he'd ever get used to the twisted, dark lines.

Izuku quickly straightened his posture before deeply bowing, "S-Sensei," he managed to stutter out.

He hear a soft rustling sound before he heard Sensei speak again, "Rise, Izu."

Izuku flinched at the use of the nickname, it didn't sound right whenever Sensei used it. Nonetheless, he hastily straightened back up and took a few hesitant steps into the room. He didn't know where to go from there, but Sensei seemed to be waiting, so he just decided on a prompt, "K-Kurogiri told me th-that y-you wanted to speak with m-me?"

Sensei nodded, the screen fuzzing for a moment before clearing, "I wanted to know how your first day of school was."

Izuku's mind went blank.

_What?_

Surely he didn't hear that right. That couldn't be what Sensei wanted to talk to him about. He had never bothered with such trivial things before(not that he had ever gone to school before, but that was besides the point), and he didn't see a reason as to why he would care now. Even with it being part of one of their plans, it still didn't make sense as to why he would want to know how it _went_. There must be something else going on.

He gulped once more, "I-it went alright, I g-guess. I-I learned more about m-my c-classmates and was about to write it all down." He added that information on purpose, trying to figure out if that was what he wanted to talk about.

Sensei just nodded again, so Izuku crosses that topic off of the list, "That's good." He then leaned closer to the camera, sending chills running up his spine, "Nothing... _happened_ today, did it? You didn't, _tell_ anyone about us, did you?"

Izuku froze, he could hear the underlying threat behind those words. His mind wandered to the events of that day so far. A lot had happened, but on specific event stood out amongst the rest. The breakdown he'd had earlier. It had certainly been a hit to his psyche and had been a big event for him, but Sensei couldn't possibly know about that, right?

He quickly answered, "O-of c-course I didn't t-tell anyone! I would n-never! And I d-did get jumped on the way ba-back, but I-I handled it."

Sensei leaned back and nodded once more, and while he gave no signs of this being the case, Izuku got the feeling that he knew he wasn't telling him everything, "All right then, you may leave."

Izuku nearly sighed in relief at the dismissal, wanting nothing more then to leave that room. He turned to leave when Sensei's voice stopped him, "Oh, and Izuku," dread pooled in his stomach, "I _will_ know if you tell anyone us." And with that the screen flickered to black, plunging the room into even darker shadows than before. He just stood there for a moment, Sensei never used his first name. _Never_. The only other time he had heard Sensei use his first name was when-

He shook his head, now was not the time. That could wait for later, right now he needed to update his journal and then read the syllabus.

Walking back to his room, he suddenly became aware of just how many doors lined the hallway, and he came to the realization that he had no clue what was behind half of them. He typically tried to stay in his room as much as possible, as he didn't want to get more involved with the villains than he had to. He was already forced to do enough for the villains, he didn't want to put more on himself if he could help it.

Suddenly one of the doors to his right swung open nearly hitting him. He jumped backwards before it could and landed safely on his feet. There was a person coming out of it that he didn't recognize, but what caught his interest was what he could see on the inside.

A large computer was sitting on a desk near the back, and though he couldn't see all of the screen, he could make out a picture of him with his name written in big lettering at the top. Some information was written in smaller text next to it, but the door closed again before he could read it.

It took a bit of effort, but he eventually returned his gaze to the man that had come out of the room. Fear kept him rooted to the spot even though every instinct told him to run. Something was _wrong_. Why was there a screen with information on him in the _League of Villains_. They already had all the information on him that they needed plus some. He had grown up here after all. So _why?_

Unless, his face paled, they were somehow _keeping tabes on him._

His mind wandered back to the conversation he just had with Sensei. That sure did explain a few things. If he knew that he was lying, then why didn't he call him out on it? The only reason that he wouldn't is if he didn't want Izuku to know about it.

"What are you looking at?"

Izuku flinched at the intrusion, having momentarily forgotten about the man he was currently _staring_ at. He quickly averted his gazed, focusing instead on the floor.

"N-nothing, s-sir." Izuku managed to stammer. He was growing increasingly afraid of what he had just saw. It was growing increasingly clear that he wasn't meant to see that.

The man grunted again, "Well then, leave."

Izuku nodded, "Y-yes sir!" And with that he scrambled towards his room, door slamming behind him in his hurry. He strode there, back pressed against the door as he heard footsteps and a door open and close from somewhere else in the hallway. Izuku sighed for the umpteenth time that day and stumbled over to his bed. He fell face forwards onto the bed and just groaned into his pillow. Today had been action filled and all he wanted to do was go to sleep. Maybe he wouldn't wake up this time.

No, he still had work to do. He couldn't just give up now.

He pushed himself up and flipped around into a sitting position. Scooting himself to the edge of the mattress, he grabbed his backpack and unzipped it. Pulling out his spare clothes and putting them out of the way, he grabbed his notebook, a pencil, and the syllabus from his backpack.

Opening his notebook to a fresh page and gripping his pencil, he got to work on writing everything he learned that day.

* * *

It was late. There wasn't a clock in the room, but just the fact that the building had finally grown quiet served as testament to that.

He had been trying to fall asleep ever since finishing writing in his notebook and reading the syllabus a few hours ago. It was safe to say that he wasn't going to get much sleep that night.

It wasn't his fault, really! It was just that the picture of him on that screen came to mind every time he closed his eyes, making it impossible to fall asleep.

Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his eyes from his nonexistent sleep. Maybe a glass of water would help clear his mind.

The floor boards creaked as he stood, making him wince. If he woke anyone one up, he wouldn't be let off easy. Everyone here liked their sleep, especially when most of the time they had to stay up late to pull off their plans.

Lightly walking was a skill he learned very early on, so it felt like second nature to traverse the floor and open the door without making a sound. There were still lights on in the bar area, so he could see where he was going. Turning away from the bar area, he headed deeper into the hallway. He glanced around at the multiple doors lining the hallway, eventually landing on the one from before. He quickly looked away, trying very hard not to look at it as he passed it and went errs another one. This room was pitch black and he had to fumble around for a little before he found the light switch. The lights turned on with a hum, revealing a small kitchen area. It was fairly basic, all things considered. There was a refrigerator and oven with a little bit of cabinet space and that was it. Not many people went in here, most preferring to either eat out or just not eat at all.

He walked over to one of the cabinets and grabbed a glass. Then he turned towards the sink and slowly filled it up, making sure not to make too much noise.

The now empty glass landed with a thunk as he put it down on the wooden counter. A satisfied feeling filled his stomach and spread to the rest of his body. Yup, getting water had definitely been a good idea. Maybe he'd even get some sleep in before he had to get up.

Smiling, he looked back to his glass before shrugging, he could clean it up in the morning. He just wasn't feeling it right now. He left the kitchen feeling better than he had all night.

The feeling soon diminished as he saw the door again. He tried to ignore it again, but he was eventually drawn back to it. Soon enough he found himself standing in front of the door with no idea how he had gotten there. His legs had just moved on their own.

He had to physically stop himself from reaching up and opening up the door. Biting his lip, he thought over the consequences should he be caught. Obviously they didn't want him knowing about whatever it was they were doing in that room. But that just made him even more curious, despite knowing nothing good could come from this.

He hesitated a second longer before steeling himself, he would have to face his fears eventually, he just needed to take the first step.

Using his carefully honed skills, he opened the door without difficulty. Once the door was opened enough he took a quick glance inside. The computer screen was still on, though it no longer showed him on it. They must have closed it or something. He wasn't very familiar with computers, or electronics in general. Growing up, he hadn't exactly had much of a chance to use them. Trust wasn't easily given to little kids for some reason.

After taking a quick glance around to make sure he was alone, he crept over to the computer and positioned himself in front of him. Placing his hand over the mouse, he moved the cursor over various app looking things on the computer. He knew how to the hardware, it was just actually _using_ the computer that got himself stuck. There was just_ so much._

The cursor passed over a folder looking thing at the bottom that said files and he shrugged, seemed like a good place to start. Clicking on it, he was greeted with a seemingly endless list of folders, each having their own name. Some of them actually made him concerned, like the one labeled _attack_, but he didn't focus too much on it, he wasn't here for that after all.

He eventually saw a search bar near the top and sighed in relief, he wouldn't have to go through and read each of the files individually. He typed in 'Izuku', and sat back and waited. It took a bit, apparently it had to go through a lot more than he thought to find it, but it eventually pulled up what he was looking for. There sat a folder labeled Izuku Midoriya, innocently staring out at him.

Taking a deep breath, he opened it, one application popping up. It was labeled, 'Tracker'. This alone sent chills up his spine. Clicking on it, he was sent to an app that soon opened to show off the same picture of him as before, accompanied with the same information.

Reading through it, he realized that is was various information about his health and stats and the like. He even found a tab that showed off his heart beat. He could only stare at it and watch his increasing heartbeat on the screen, perfectly in line with the terror climbing in his throat. This wasn't what he expected. He didn't know _what_ he expected, it just wasn't _this._

_ This was how he knew._

Bile rose up his throat and it took all his will power to not throw up right then and there.

A noise from somewhere in the hallway caught his attention. Panic shot through his system and he quickly found the x button and closed everything. Then he dove behind one of the many boxes littering the room.

A man walked into the room, his stature small and skinny, but clearly still strong. He took one look at the computer and groaned. A few choice words could be heard from the man as he stumbled towards the computer along with something about "sleep," and "leaving it on."

The man hit a few buttons on the computer before turning and leaving the room and(unknowingly) Izuku alone and closing the door behind him. Izuku waited a few moments for the footsteps of the man to fade before he allowed himself to relax.

He jumped as the room suddenly went dark, his nerves still shot the scare. He glance around and realized that the computer had turned off, the whir from it that he hadn't even noticed before disappearing as well.

Feeling out his surroundings, Izuku carefully made his way back to the door. He had never been very graceful, and that only became more apparent in the dark.

He did eventually make it, but not without some heart stopping moments when he accidentally ran into things. Luckily, no one else came into the room and he managed to escape the dark room to the hallway where he could fully relax. There was still no one out and he hoped it stayed that way, for even if he was now outside of the room, he was still very suspicious when standing in the middle of the hallway.

Izuku quickly made his way across the hallway and slipped into the safety of his room. Once inside, his legs gave out underneath him and just barely managed to land on his bed and not the floor. Exhaustion swept through his body and he barely kept himself from falling asleep right then and there.

Huh, it seemed like all he really needed to do was look in that room to fall asleep after all. Sitting up, he dragged himself into a more comfortable sleeping position and pulled the thin sheets on his bed over him.

Now he could fall asleep.

There was only one coherent thought that passed through his mind before sleep claimed him,

_What do I do now?_


	7. Chapter 7

All night sighed, today had been the first day of school and he was already exhausted. He hadn't done much in terms of teaching, but he had been going through all of his student's profiles. He wanted to know each of them by tomorrow, as he would officially start his duties as a teacher.

Stretching out his thin arms, he got back to work, only a few more left before he could leave.

Opening the file, he was greeted by a shy looking green-haired boy with freckles dotting his face. His green eyes were almost hidden behind his curly bangs with his head titled down shyly. The name at the top read Izuku Midoriya.

All might grinned at this file, he remembered this boy. He was the one who saved that girl with the gravity quirk. Pride swelled in his chest, it was good to see that his students had what it took to be real heroes.

Almost without his consent, his mind wandered to one for all. He would need to find a successor, and soon. Mirio had been a good pick, an excellent one at that, but something just wouldn't allow him to pass it on to him. Call it a gut feeling, call it hesitation, whatever you want, but he just, _couldn't_.

His gaze wandered back to the profile staring up at him.

_Maybe_...

He shook his head, no, he didn't know a thing about this boy. The kid showed promise, but All Might couldn't just give one for all to just anyone. He'd consider it once he knew the kid better, but for now he would keep searching.

And with that, he read what little information was on the profile. It was one of the more empty files, having just the bare basics.

All might sighed again, just more of a reason that he couldn't just give him one for all. No matter how much he wanted to.

He closed the file and put it to the side.

* * *

_His feet hit the ground hard, splashing in the puddles on the street. Behind him he could hear people shouting his name, calling out threats to make him come back. This only made him run faster, his small legs moving as fast as they could._

_ He was about to turn the corner to a building when he ran into something hard. His body went flying backwards, but before he could hit the ground a hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder._

_ "Woah there kid! You should be more careful! The concrete isn't very nice to land on." A kind voice said._

_ Izuku looked up, eyes filled with fear as he cowered away from the stranger. The man was muscular but not overly so, and he wore a costume of some sort. "Hey, it's alright, I'm a hero. You can trust me." _

_ He felt his eyes widen at that, "R-really?" Izuku glanced behind him in fear, "D-do you think you c-can scare away the b-bad g-guys?"_

_ He felt the hand on his shoulder tighten, "What bad guys?" The hero asked._

_ Izuku opened his mouth to respond but a voice behind him cut him off, "oh Midoriya~" he shivered, "You know it's not very nice to run away like that. Now come here before anyone gets hurt."_

_ Izuku forced himself to turn around and look at Shigaraki. Shigaraki was around mid or early teens, but he still gave off a very threatening aura. He could also see how Shigaraki was physically struggling to act nice around the hero._

_ He almost stepped forward, if only to protect the other, but the hero stopped him, "And who are you?"_

_ Shigaraki paused at that, before a sneer overtook his face, "What does it matter to you?"_

_ The hero looked Shigaraki up and down, "Well, you clearly aren't part of his family, nor do you seem like his friend, so I think it's fair of me to question you."_

_ Shigaraki growled at that, the sound alone making Izuku want the hero to just let him go and save himself. He didn't know what Shigaraki was capable of. But he just felt the hand on his shoulder give a gentle squeeze._

_ "Well, if you won't come Midoriya, I guess I'll just have to punish your friend here." Shigaraki said._

_ Izuku's eyes widen and he forced himself forward despite the hand on his shoulder trying to stop him, "N-no! Shigaraki-San, please don't hurt him! I'll come with you, just please don't hurt him."_

_ Shigaraki paused and looked at Izuku, "Oh but Midoriya, it's already too late for that."_

_ Time seemed to slow as suddenly Shigaraki stepped forward, pulling off his gloves as he prepared to use his quirk. Izuku felt his face pale. This hero was going to die, and it was going to be all his fault._

_ His body completely froze and he could only watch helplessly as Shigaraki passed by him and reached the hero. By now, the hero had gathered that something was off, but he still had no idea what Shigaraki's quirk or why Izuku had been so afraid of Shigaraki. He planted his feet into the ground and activated his quirk, his eyes glowing with crackling energy. But before he could do anything with it Shigaraki's hand shot out and landed on his face. The hero screamed and quickly pulled away, his face cracking and dusting. But Shigaraki wasn't done yet._

_ His hand reached out and clamped onto his arm, further disintegrating the hero while also keeping him from pulling away. The hero screamed again, senses all in a disarray and unable to stop the pain. His arm eventually crumbled away into nothing, everything from his shoulder out just gone. Still screaming, the hero fell into the ground, writhing in pain._

_ Shigaraki suddenly looked back at Izuku, "The next time you try to run away, I'll do worse."_

_ Izuku could only watch in horror as the mans head disintegrated before his very eyes. He had seen a lot of horrifying things, but this had to top the list._

_ Shigaraki stood back up before dusting himself off. He then turned back around and grabbed Izuku by his arm, keeping one finger raised. "Come on, Midoriya. You don't want to keep Sensei waiting any longer, now do you?"_

_ Izuku slowly shook his head, unable to tear his eyes away from the body. He kept staring until long after they turned the corner of a building and disappeared back into the shadows._

_ He didn't try to escape again._

* * *

**Hey guys! It's me, the author! I know i dont talk a lot on here, but I needed to tell all of you that i will be posting the next chapter early and it will be longer than usual as well! Thats why this chapter is so short, so im sorry! it was a necessary evil!**


	8. Chapter 8

Todoroki laid in his bed, but his thoughts did not rest with his body. Ever since that morning his thoughts hadn't stopped their endless circles.

Groaning, Todoroki lifted a hand to his forehead. That one classmate of his, Izuku Midoriya, was currently occupying his thoughts, as they had been all day now. It had especially gotten bad when he had run into the boy.

He felt his face heat up again and he cursed. Every time he thought of that moment, where he could feel the other against him, just seemed to stir a weird fluttering feeling in his stomach, and he hated it. He just couldn't understand these new feelings and he absolutely hated how he reacted around him. For some reason, he just couldn't act indifferent to Midoriya like he could with everyone else, even his sister, and he absolutely hated that fact.

He was supposed to become the number one hero, beat All Might, and all without ever using his father's quirk. He'd be damned if he let someone, who he has spoken once to, get in his way. So why couldn't he stop thinking about him?!

His face burned as his fingers pressed deep into his forehead. Todoroki has tried to act indifferent when Midoriya had fallen in the sandpit, telling himself that his classmate was pathetic if he couldn't complete a single jump. But he hadn't been able to help himself and glanced over as Midoriya had gotten up. The look on his face though had a pang of pity shooting through him. Todoroki even almost went over to see if he was alright before he stopped himself.

Why did he even care? It wasn't like it was his job to look after his classmate. So _why_? Why _did_ he care?

Todoroki flipped himself over and groaned into his pillow. As he pressed harder into the pillow, the pressure on his face was somehow comforting, he thought back to how he acted when he ran into him.

He hadn't been expecting the teen to be coming out of the door, and it had left him completely unprepared for when their bodies had collided. They had both been able to catch himself and Todoroki had found a slight pain on his forehead, but for some reason he found himself concerned for the other. That in itself was unusual for him, but then life had to go and one up him again.

The fluttery feeling had returned in full force, but this time, he had found himself zeroing in on his classmate. Everything else seemed to melt away as he took in every single tiny detail on the green-haired teen. The curls on his head had bounced gently as the teen had recovered, and they had seemed to glow as the sun filtered in from the windows behind him. But now that Todoroki thought about it, they had seemed slightly dirty, as though they hadn't been taken care of very well.

Todoroki frowned and lifted his head from the pillow. Now that he thought about it, Midoriya hadn't looked very well taken care generally. Small patches of dirt could be seen in various places on his face and his uniform had seemed wrinkled despite the fact that it must have been the first day that he had ever worn it. Even his bright red shoes seemed scuffed and worn through.

If one looked at a distance or wasn't paying attention, they could easily miss it. Though Todoroki was close, and he was paying _very_ close attention to Midoriya.

"Todoroki? Come on you slow poke! Dinner's ready!"

Todoroki was broken out of his thoughts by the playful voice of his older sister, Fuyumi. She was a teacher and got home after him, but she always seemed ready to make dinner despite that fact. To be honest, she was the only one actually able to cook nowadays.

With a big sigh, he managed to drag himself out of his bed and thoughts and went over to the door. When he opened it, Fuyumi was gone, but he knew that she was waiting for him in the kitchen.

His muscles and joints aches from his training and he wanted nothing more than to lay down a fall asleep, but he forced himself out and into the hallway. Fasting a glance back to his bed, he shook away the worry that had appeared.

_ You're worrying over nothing_, he thought, _Midoria probably just fell or something. Plus we had just had the quirk test, so of course he would be dirty._

He ignored the voice telling him that something was wrong. That it had looked as if the green-head hadn't showered in days.

It was just a voice after all.

* * *

Izuku shot up in his bed, panting heavily. He could still feel Shigaraki's bruising grip on his arm, and his fingernails biting into his skin.

The nightmare cling to his every thought, not leaving him as most do. His eyes glanced around, taking in his bare room and slowly relaxing as he realized where he was.

_Crash!_

The sudden noise had him jumping in surprise and fear. He could hear laughing coming from the bar area and he figured that everyone was starting to get up.

Shaking off the last of the nightmare, Izuku slowly climbed out of his bed to get ready. He had changed into his spare clothes after he had finished reading the syllabus, as he didn't want to wrinkle his uniform anymore than it already was. That was actually one of the new recruits doing. Izuku had accidentally left it out when he had gone to training and the guy had found it. He must have recognized the uniform as he had started shaking it and throwing it to the other recruits, who had happily gone along with it. By the time Izuku had returned, his uniform was within an inch of being torn in half by one the men. He had managed to save it, but his uniform had ended up in rough shape. Luckily though, there were no holes or tears in the fabric, so it was still usable.

Stretching, he noticed that his skin seemed to stretch out very uncomfortably. He winced, and his mind wandered the day before. His quirk dried out his skin if overexerted, and he had certainly stretched his limits yesterday. This could have been worse too if he hadn't drank water before he went fell asleep and he mentally patted himself on the back for that.

Buttoning up his uniform, he once again smoothed out the wrinkles to the best of his ability. If he had an iron or even had the ability to wash it, he probably could have fixed it, but alas, he had to deal with it and hope no body noticed.

_Knock knock knock_

He looked up and towards the door. He then heard Kurogiri's voice through the wood, "Midoriya, are you up?"

He nodded before realizing that he couldn't see him and quickly stuttered out, "Y-yeah. I-I'll be out soon."

Then, without warning, his door opened and Kurogiri stepped inside. Izuku froze in the middle of grabbing his shoes. Nobody ever came into his room. Ever.

"Midoriya," anticipation shot up his spine, making him twitch ever so slightly, "You are needed in the training room." Kurogiri paused, purple smoke waving as his head tilted to the side, "I suggest changing into a different pair of clothes to avoid ruining your uniform."

He wanted to throw up as Kurogiri turned and left. He kingly closed the door behind him.

Izuku knew what this meant. He must have been found out. Someone must have seen him last night and snitched. That, or there had been a camera in the room that he hadn't seen, and now he was going to be punished for it.

He swallowed the bile rising up his throat as he berated himself. Last night h had been reckless and he had known it. Yet he had done it anyways.

His gaze lowered and he changed back into his spare clothes, the only other clothes he had. They were ratty and torn in many places, but they covered him and kept him warm, and that's all he could really ask for.

Fear coiled in his stomach and almost managed to paralyze him as he reached out to open the door, but he pulled through. He knew it would only be worse if he didn't show up. It would happen either way, so he might as well just get it over with.

The familiar squeal of the hinges didn't comfort him as they usually did, and he pushed down the fear as much as he possibly could. Stepping out into the hallway, he could see multiple if the recruits laughing and drinking in the bar area, and he could also see Kurogiri standing behind the bar cleaning glasses. Nobody seemed to notice him there, but he did notice something as he raked his gaze across the room. Shigaraki wasn't there. Izuku gulped, there was only one other place he could be.

Turning his back to the room and walked to the door right next to his. He thought that they might have done that on purpose. It was much easier to drag himself back to his bedroom when it was next door.

Not even hesitating(he didn't think he could continue if he paused for even a second), he opened the door and quickly stepped inside. Closing the door behind him, he kept his gaze lowered and he made himself as small as possible.

"Izu, you've been very _annoying_ lately."

Izuku flinched at Shigaraki's harsh words. He supposed he hadn't been on his best behavior since he'd learned about the UA plan, but he hadn't thought it'd been enough for Shigaraki to notice. "I-I'm sorry, Tou-nii, I promise I'll do be-"

"I didn't call you here just for you to make promises we all know you won't keep."

His blood froze at the sound of Sensei's crackling voice. Glancing up, he saw Shigaraki slouching next to an old looking tv. On the tv he could barely make out the hauntingly familiar silhouette of Sensei.

"By now you must know why we brought you here, and I must say, I'm very disappointed," Sensei said.

Suddenly he was sent stumbling forwards as something hard hit his back. Pain blossomed in the middle of his back, and he glanced behind him to see a large looking man standing right behind him. When did he get there? And how did he not notice?

Wincing, he tried to stand up but the man walked over and stomped his foot down onto his back. Black spots swam in his vision as the pain doubled, but he still didn't make a sound. He learned that it was best to stay quiet when this happened.

Shigaraki sneered, "What, not going to defend yourself?" He walked forwards and crouched down to look at Izuku, "If we didn't need you, you would be dead right now."

Izuku knew this, but he couldn't help the fear that spiked when Shigaraki said this.

The staticky voice of Sensei once again filled the room, "Izuku, you know better than to go snooping around. So why did you feel the sudden urge to go into that room? Surely you knew that this was going to happen."

He lowered his gaze until all he could see was the ground. Yes, he knew that this could happen, yet he had done it anyways. He didn't have a reason as to why he thought it was a good idea, if he even thought it was in the first place, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

_ Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back._

He now knew more about his situation, and on his own terms too. They never gave him more information than absolutely necessary, as they fear he would give them away. The more he knew about what was going on behind the scenes, the better chance he stood to one day escape this place.

That thought always hurt, but he could never seem to completely rid of it. He knew that it would be nearly impossible to escape this group, especially when he could be seen as a villain now. But he couldn't stop that tiny part of him that hoped that he could one day be free from this life.

"Answer him, Izu." Shigaraki's said from somewhere above him, and he felt the foot press down harder. His lungs worked in over time to get oxygen as the pain spiked. He felt a tiny whine escape his lips before he could stop it. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to block out the pain, with little avail.

He felt his head be wrenched upwards and his neck screamed in protest. Squinting, he managed to make out the blurry outline of Shigaraki's body and face. Had he started crying? They certainly wouldn't like that.

Prying open his mouth, he managed to get out a few words, "I-I d-on't k-know." He knew they wouldn't except that answer, but he also knew that they wouldn't accept any other answer he gave them either.

He heard Sensei sigh, "You know that isn't answer, Izuku."

The pressure on his back suddenly left and Shigaraki dropped his head. His face landed uncomfortably hard on the concrete floor of the training room(concrete lasted longer than wood), but he ignored that in favor of enjoying the air that came freely into his lungs.

That was soon interrupted as he was dragged up onto his feet by his hair. His legs wobbled and almost buckled underneath him, but the hand gripping his hair kept him standing.

He blinked a few times, but the blurriness refused to leave. His felt something wet roll down his cheek.

"Since you've already seen it, I might as well tell you what we've done."

Izuku closed his eyes. He didn't want to know what they'd done to him. He was already a freak as it was.

Sensei continued, "You see, we realized that we didn't have any way to monitor you as you went to school. You hadn't gone out much before, so we hadn't had a reason to. But with you being gone for so long, and around pro heroes for that matter, we knew you might get, _ideas_.

"So we came up with something that could tell us where you were and monitor you vitals to see if anything, _suspicious_, happened."

Izuku shuddered.

"During one of your training sessions, we had on of the recruits attach a device into your right arm. His quirk allows his body or anything he's holding to go through human matter. It's actually quite useful. He has found many ways to cleverly utilize his quirk for our needs."

He suddenly became very aware of his arm and mentally checked on his arm. He didn't feel anything off, but then again, if he hadn't already noticed something like a chip or tracker, then he doubted he would feel anything now.

Panic started to stir in his stomach before he suddenly went limp. Resignation claimed every muscle in his body, making them seem like lead weights. The small part of hope he clung to suddenly became even smaller.

The hand let go a he crumpled to the ground. He didn't bother getting up.

"I hope this reminded you that there's no escape. It would be a shame if we had to resort to drastic measures."

And then suddenly he was alone.

He didn't want to get up, but he did anyways. They still needed him to go to school.

Pushing himself up was one of the hardest things he's ever done. The black hole in his chest sapped his energy away until there was almost nothing left. Eventually, he got into a sitting position and stared out into the dark room. It was completely barren except for the now powered off tv. He had spent so many pain-filled days here. Many of the scars now littering his body could be traced back to this room.

Sighing, he dragged himself onto his feet and shuffled to the door. Opening it, he was greeted to the sight of multiple recruits coming out of the bar area and into the hallway. One of them caught sight of him and decided to approach him. Izuku didn't do anything to stop him.

The recruit cocked his fist back and slammed it into his chest. His vision went white as he fell back into the training from the force of the punch. The man followed him into the room and gave him a hard kick to the ribs, "What? Not even going fight back? Tsk, boring."

His friends heckled Izuku from the doorway as the man left. Izuku did nothing but stare at them, his eyes dull.

The group left when the man returned to them and Izuku was left alone once more with his wounds. He could practically feel the stabbing pain in his chest and ribs start to bruise.

With a groan of pain, he eventually managed to pull himself back into his feet and not almost pass out.

Going back to the door, he could still hear laughter from the bar area, but he didn't bother to look this time, instead choosing to go straight into his room.

Closing the door behind him, he started getting ready for school once again.

* * *

The gate loomed menacingly over him as he walked through. The bruises burned underneath his shirt, but he was well practiced in hiding pain.

"Hey Midoriya-kun!"

He glanced over to the side and saw a floating uniform.

_Ah, Hagakure._

"Hey, Hagakure," he greeted back.

She ran up to him in her enthusiastic way, and stopped next to him, "Are you excited for today? I heard we were going to do hero training. Doesn't that sound like fun!" Her entire body was jumping up and down as she waved around her hands as she spoke.

The excitement was contagious and he cracked a smile for the first time that day, "Y-yeah, I guess I am."

Hero training. It sounded almost like a dream. This was everything he's ever wanted, yet he couldn't help but feel like something was going to go wrong today. It was starting to become a common theme these days.

They turned to the building and walked through the gate, and Hagakure made small talk with him while they walked. It was a long walk to the classroom, so he was caught up on the trip to the mall they took the other day. He had forgotten that they had gone to the mall.

They had just reached the door when Hagakure suddenly jumped, "Oh! I forgot!" She then turned towards him and bowed, "I'm sorry for taking a picture of you without your permission! It was rude of me and will delete it if you want."

Izuku was stunned. He had forgotten about that and he wasn't exactly used to people apologizing to him about _anything, _even when it had been their fault.

He panicked and tried to get Hagakure to straighten back up, "I-it's okay! Y-you don't have to a-apologize."

She was now standing straight again and he had a feeling she was smiling, "Oh good! I thought you would still be mad at me."

He smiled weakly at her, "I'm not really the type to hold grudges n' stuff. And I wasn't mad at you, I was just embarrassed. I-it's no big deal."

Hagakure squealed and hugged him and he had to hid his wince, "You're too nice, Midoriya-kun!" She let go of him and turned back to the door, "Come on! I bet everyone is inside already."

She opened the door and stepped inside. Hagakure has been right, almost everyone was already inside the classroom and seated in their seats. His invisible classmate curved away and headed straight to a seat in the front. Izuku glanced around and took a seat behind Bakugou. The blonde didn't seem to notice him, as he seemed focused on staring out the window with a scowl in his face.

Once he seated himself, he looked around to see if any of friends were nearby. To his disappointment, only Hagakure and Yaoyorozu were on his side of the room, and even then Hagakure seemed busy busy talking to that guy with multiple arms and Yaoyorozu seemed busy with writing something down. Iida and Uraraka were on the complete other side of the room, along with Kirishima and Kaminari. He also noticed that Todoroki was sitting in the back of the row next to him. He glanced away and felt his face heat up.

"HEEEELLOOOO EVERYONE!"

A loud voice boomed through the classroom, making everyone wince and cover their ears.

Present Mic walked through the door and and gave his introduction, even though everyone at least knew him from the test.

And with that, their school day started. Their core classes passed quickly, and he was able to meet pro hero Lunch Rush with his friends.

After that, it was onto the class that they had all been waiting for.

The hero class.

"I am here! Coming through the door like a hero!"

Midoriya had to physically stop himself from squealing like the fanboy he is. All Might came swinging through the doorway, and his cape fluttered majestically behind him. Izuku quickly took note of how All Might was wearing wearing his silver age costume.

All Might marched up to the front of the room and addressed the class, effectively silencing the whispers that had started, "Welcome to the most important class at Yueei high! Think of it as heroing 101. Here you will learn the basics of being a pro, and what it takes to fight in the name of good!" He started stretching in front of the class and Izuku nearly died right there and then, "Today's lesson," he pulled out a card, "we'll pull no punches!"

In front of him he could hear Bakugou say, "Fight training," in a very creepy voice. Izuku also couldn't help but whisper, "Real combat?"

All Might suddenly grabbed a remote and turned towards the wall, "But another one of the keys to being a hero iiiiiss," boxes started coming out of the wall, "looking good!"

Whispers started up as people figured out what was inside the boxes, "These were designed based on the quirk registration and requests you sent in before school started."

Everyone cheered and Izuku whispered, "Costumes."

"Get yourselves suit up and then meet me in trading ground beta!"

And with that, All Might left and everyone jumped up and out of their seats. Everyone was excited to get their costumes, but Izuku hovered near the back of the crowd. He was too shy to push himself to the front, but at the same time he wasn't sure how his costume would look.

Finally, most of his classmates had gotten their costumes and left to the changing rooms, leaving only Izuku, Todoroki, and Yaoyorozu left. They apparently hadn't tried to push through the crowd either.

Izuku went up and nervously grabbed his case, and made sure not to get in the way of Todoroki or Yaoyorozu.

Once he got his case, he turned and quickly left the classroom and went to the boys changing room. Heading inside, he waited for everyone else to leave. Kirishima and Kaminari noticed and when questioned, Izuku just told them he was uncomfortable with changing in front of others. Thankfully, they took that as an acceptable answer and left him alone.

Soon enough he was completely alone and he opened his case. Staring down at his costume, he sighed. He really wasn't looking forward to this.


	9. Chapter 9

Walking of the entrance tunnel, Izuku fought with his pain to stand up straight. His back had been pretty banged up when he had checked it while he was changing, and it was getting difficult to keep his posture straight, but he was somehow managing.

Looking around, he admired the designs of everyone's costume. All most all of them were flashy in some way, and it kind of made him feel out of place. Glancing down, he looked at his costume once again.

It was a simple design. Not flashy yet not boring either. It was comfortable and protected him with its brace and the suit was mainly green, with bits of black and white thrown in.

He wore a loose hood over his head that connected with the rest of the costume at the base. A dark green and white mask covered most of his face, but had holes in places for things like his eyes and mouth. There was white flimsy material with the costume to cover his mouth, but he knew it wouldn't do much. He would have to ask for a sturdier one later to replace the screen mask.

The main part was an evergreen long coat that fell just above his knees. It split apart before it reached his legs so that it wouldn't restrict his movement when fighting. White trim outlined the edges of the coat as well, giving it a cool look. A black stripe also ran down the sides of the arms and met up with fingerless black gloves. The gloves gave his wrists support and let him use his quirk at the same time.

Beneath his coat was a lighter green belt with pouches full of all the paper he could ever need. Light grey pants covered his legs and a pair of dark, metal shoes completed the costume.

"Wow Izuku! Your costume looks great!" He looked up and saw Uraraka in her costume. He couldn't help but blush, "I should have been more clear about what I wanted; this costume is skin tight. Not really my style, haha" She said, rubbing the back of her head.

From beside them he heard Mineta whisper, "I love this school."

"Students! If you would please gather around!" All Might announced.

Everyone crowded around him and he started speaking, "Now that you're ready, it's time for combat training!"

The robot looking costume next to Izuku raised his hand, "Sir," oh, so that's Iida under there; he looks so cool! "this is the fake city from our entrance exams. Does that mean that we will be conducting urban battles again?"

All Might raised his hand, " Not quite, I'm going to move you two steps ahead!" Everyone leaned closer as All Might continued, "Most of the villain fights you see on the news happens outside. However, statistically speaking run ins with the most dastardly evil doers happens indoors. Think about it, back door deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs." Izuku flinched at that last one, "Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows."

Izuku gulped and looked away. He felt like All Might was targeting him even though he couldn't possibly know.

"In this training exercise you'll be split into teams of good guys and bad guys and fight two on two indoor battles!"

The green haired girl with the long tongue spoke up, "Isn't this a little advanced?"

All Might clenched his fist, "The best trading is what you get on the battle field! But remember, you can't just punch a robot this time. You're dealing with actual people now."

People started speaking up and asking their questions.

"Sir, will you be the one deciding who wins?"

"How much can we hurt the other team?"

"Do we need to worry about the losers being expelled like earlier?"

"Will you being splitting us us based on chance or comparative skill?"

"Isn't this cape treś chic?"

... Okay, maybe the last one wasn't a valid question.

All Might visibly groaned and Izuku could almost hear him mutter, "_Guh! __I wasn't finished talking!"_

He suddenly pulled out a tiny booklet, and Izuku realized what it was. _A script?_

"Listen up! This is the situation. The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must foil their plans! To do that the heroes must catch the evil doers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the villains succeed they protect their payload or capture the heroes."

Sounds like a classic action movie set up.

"Time is limited and we'll choose teams by drawing lots!" All Might held up a yellow box.

He saw Iida shift besides him and he turned to see him raise his hand, "isn't there a better way?"

Izuku felt excitement shoot through him and before he could stop himself, he was speaking, "Think about it, pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot, so maybe that's the reason we're seeing that here." He felt his mouth snap shut and after a moment realized that he had just corrected Iida. Panic flowed through him and just as he was about to open his mouth and apologize, Iida spoke up once more, "Yes, I see. Life is a random series of events." He bowed towards All Might, "Excuse my rudeness!"

All Might just turned around and said, "No sweat! Let's draw!"

Izuku ended up with Uraraka and he couldn't help but sigh in relief. At least he wasn't paired up Bakugou. O_r Todoroki_, his mind helpfully supplied.

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe we're a team. What are the chances!" Uraraka said cheerfully.

Izuku smile's at her and he felt his own small current of happiness along with her.

All might shoves his hands into the boxes and shuffled them around, "I declare that the first teams to fight will beeee," he raised his hands to show off the balls, "these guys!"

His smile disappeared as he realized what letters were on the balls. Team A and team D. Him and Uraraka vs Bakugou and Iida.

On the other side of the group of students, Izuku could see Bakugou's ever present scowl somehow deepen even more. He still didn't know why Bakugou hated him so much. As far as he knew, he hadn't done anything to provoke his classmate. Then again, from what he could tell, he had probably just looked at him the wrong way or something and Bakugou had taken offense.

At least he wasn't on a team with him. He felt sorry for Iida, but he knew that Iida could take care of himself, so he didn't worry too much for him.

"Team A will be the heroes; team D will be the villains. Everyone else can head to the monitory room." Everyone responded with a yes sir.

The students separated from the two teams to either watch their fight or come up with a plan.

Izuku glanced down at his fists, and thought about his chances. Iida was fast, and neither him nor Uraraka were very fast, so they were at a clear disadvantage there. Bakugou has a very adaptable quirk and seemed competent in battle, so it would be best to avoid a head on head confrontation with him.

When it came down to it, surprise would be a major factor, but they would need to know where they were going in order to do that, so they would need to scout the area out without alerting them to their presence.

Noticing that the other four had started walking, he quickly caught back up. Falling in step with Uraraka, he quickly filled her in on what he knew and she offered some ideas. They were good ones, and some of them even improved upon the ones he had already come up with. He felt a small smile tug at his lips, Uraraka was more clever than he gave her credit for.

The smile fell when he realized he would have to put that in his notebook.

They stopped in front of a tall, square building, and All Might turned to them. "Bad guys you go inside and get set up. In five minutes the good guys will be set loose and the battle will start!"

Iida and Bakugou started to enter the building when All Might stopped them, "Young Iida, young Bakugou, the key to being successful in this challenge, is to embody villainy. Think from the perspective of an evil doer."

"Got it." Iida said.

"If things go too far, I'll step in."

"Understood."

The pair stepped into the building and All Might left, leaving him and Uraraka to look at the floor plan.

"Do you really think they expect us to memorize the entire floor plan? It's so big." Uraraka looked unsure.

Izuku just hummed in agreement, and went back to thinking. Suddenly Uraraka perked up, "You know, All Might's just as cool in person as he is on tv." She turned towards him with a smile, "I'm glad he's not threatening us with some kind of punishment like Mr. Aizawa. We can relax-Ah! What is that look for!"

Izuku's face was twisted into one of disappointment, "Just because we aren't being punished with expulsion, doesn't mean that we shouldn't take this any less seriously." His disappointment vanished and determination took it's place, "Even in practice things can get dangerous. And we should never just relax on a battlefield. This is real, practice or no." Then he gave her a nervous smile, "Besides, you want to get better right? You won't be able to do that if you don't always give it you'll all!"

There was a lull in the conversation as Uraraka absorbed what he said and Izuku realized what he said. A blush quickly overtook his face, but he didn't try to take back what he said or apologize this time. He meant what he said.

The stunned look on Uraraka's face slowly melted away and she gave him a fond smile, "Yeah, I guess your right." Izuku once again had to hid his surprise, why did his classmates keep on defying everything he knew?! "I will never get better if I don't constantly push my limits. Thanks Izuku."

Izuku turned away and gave a nervous reply, "O-oh! You d-don't need t-to th-thank me o-or anything!"

Uraraka giggled, "Well, you helped me , didn't you? So I should thank you!"

Izuku nervously fiddled with his gloves, "I-I guess your r-right..."

"Of course I am! So let's win!"

He felt some of his courage return, "Yeah. Let's win."

All Might's voice came on through the speakers, "All right! Let's begin the indoor combat training! Team A and team D, your time starts now!"

Uraraka grinned at him and went silent to let him focus. He quickly pulled a piece of paper and concentrated. The paper was suddenly cut into six even pieces, and from there they turned into small insects. They hovered above his hand, and waited for instructions, "Okay little guys," he said softly, "I need you to each go into the floors of this building and look for something resembling a bomb or other people. If you encounter either of those, report back immediately." And with that, they flew off. Each of them going to a different floor.

From beside him he heard Uraraka giggled, but when he turned and questioned her she just shrugged it off as, "Nothing!" Dismissing it, he got to work once more.

Next, he summoned a dog to guard them and detect enemies in an immediate radius. The red colored dog walked dutifully besides they as they quickly but quietly ran inside.

"Careful, there are a lot of blind spots." He said to Uraraka. He didn't want them to be caught off guard, even with the dog.

The first floor was cleared quickly as he knew they wouldn't put it there. They met up with one of insects as well and he sent it to help the others.

The same applied to the next couple floors, though they did have to slow down and check more thoroughly after a bit.

They were about to go to the next floor when suddenly one of his insects came to him. Holding out his hand, it landed and he saw a a flash of the bomb and a number. Having completed it job, the insect unfurled itself back into a small rectangle of paper. Concentrating on the paper once, he turned it into a hummingbird. Hummingbirds were small but still visible, so they were perfect for what he needed it for.

"Um, Izuku? Why did you summon a hummingbird?"

He glanced up, "Oh! I figured it could help lead us to the bomb since it didn't give me exact directions."

She nodded in realization, "That makes sense! That was very smart of you to think about."

"It was nothing really," he said while scratching the back of head. Glancing around once more, he turned back to the stairs, "Come on, we need to get there as soon as possible. The bomb is on the next floor."

Uraraka quickly nodded and followed silently behind him as he started up the stairs. If this was the floor that they were keep the bomb on, then they were probably guarding the stairs.

The hummingbird hovered next to his shoulder and he got an idea. Holding out his hand, the hummingbird bird landed on it. Closing his eyes, he called out to the rest of the insects that were still scouting the building. Since the hummingbird had been part of the original paper, he figured that he could contact the insects that way. He could just call out to them regularly, but that could take vital energy that he would need later.

Sure enough one of the insects came up to him a few seconds, quickly followed by another. Once all of them had gathered around him and Uraraka, he sent one out to look for any enemies near the stairs. It flew away and came back after a few seconds. It landed on his hand and he saw Bakugou hiding behind one of the corners. The paper unfurled itself and he quickly turned it into another hummingbird. The paper should transfer memories so it should know where Bakugou and the bomb are as well.

He then turned to Uraraka while taking out a light blue piece of paper, "Okay Uraraka, here's the plan. Bakugou is waiting to ambush us near the top of the stairs. I don't know where exactly he is, so what I'll do is draw him out of hiding. You can then sneak past him and go to the bomb." He nodded to the first hummingbird, "That hummingbird will guide you there." It moved closer to Uraraka as if understanding its job, "You will also take the dog with you in for when you find Iida."

She nodded but then she looked concerned, "What about you? Don't you need the dog to defend against Bakugou? And how will you find the bomb after that?"

He smirked, "That's what I have this for," he said and he held up the light blue paper. Setting it flat against his hand, it morphed into a small wolf. Lowering his hand closer to the ground, he grew it into a large sized wolf and it growled softly as if it realized there was going to be a fight soon.

The animals all looked at him and he quickly whispered instructions to each of them. He once again turned back to Uraraka, "The other hummingbird will guide me to the bomb. That's where Iida will be, so keep your guard up."

She nodded, but before they got up, he stopped her, "One more thing, remember that Iida's a bad guy right now. You will be fighting against a villain, so don't allow yourself to get distracted. Got it?"

He saw her shift nervously before she finally nodded, "Yeah, got it."

Seeing her unease, he tried to give her a calming smile. He wouldn't show it, but he was terrified. He wasn't sure he could win against Bakugou alone, but he also knew that Uraraka needed him to be strong or else she would loose her confidence. "It'll be okay, Uraraka. You got this!"

He saw her look at him and she seemed to steel herself, "Yeah! We got this!"

Feeing his own confidence strengthen with her declaration, he got up and ready. They pressed themselves against the corner they were hiding behind and before he ran out into the open Uraraka gave him one more smile.

His heat beating against his rib cage, Izuku quickly turned the corner and made sure to make as much noise as possible. The hummingbird fell back and hid itself in the shadows to avoid being detected while the light blue wolf ran along side him. The noise he made while running up the stairs echoed loudly back at him in the large hallways that carved out this floor. Bakugou still hadn't revealed himself by the time Izuku made it to the top, so he supposed he was waiting for Izuku to turn his back before he attacked. Huh, seemed like the hot head was also smart in addition to his raging temper.

There were many blind spots like there had been in the rest of the building, so Bakugou could be anywhere. Glancing at the hummingbird, he noticed it was hovering closer to one of the hallways. After giving the area one more glance he started making his way down the hall.

There was a turn almost immediately in the hall and as he was about to pass it, the wolf suddenly jumped forwards. Izuku quickly jumped backwards as an explosion burst right where he had just been standing. Some of his mask and coat were too close to the explosion and they were burned, some parts even being completely destroyed. The screen that had covered his mouth was easily burned away and half of his mask was now missing. Maybe loose material wasn't the best thing to wear in a fight. He made a mental note to fix that later.

The blue wolf had caught Bakugou off guard and he was now trying to dodge the angry wolf. Frost stung the air as the wolf activated its power. Izuku grinned, light blue paper meant that the paper had minor ice powers. He figured that explosions wouldn't do well in the cold.

It seemed he had been right as Bakugou sweared and tried to attack the wolf, only for small explosions to pop uselessly in his palms.

The wolf ran back to Izuku as he turned and ran away. He needed to get Bakugou away so that Uraraka could get through and to the bomb.

"Hey! Where the hell do you think your going?!"

Good. It seemed like Bakugou was giving chase.

After a little bit of running, he was suddenly met with a dead end. His heart dropped and he forced himself to see a sweating Bakugou blocking the only exit.

Bakugou grinned, "It was a mistake to make me run. You see, I secrete nitroglycerin from my hands to make it blow up. And when I run, I sweat. Imagine what would happen if I had a lot of it." He suddenly raised his gauntlet and put his hand on the tigger looking thing. "That's right, these thing aren't just for show. They've been storing up my sweat inside for one monster blast."

Izuku felt his face pale. He couldn't dodge that. He had nowhere to go. And his wolf would be obliterated the moment it went off, so he was on his own. He had no choice but to face it head on.

"Young Bakugou! Don't do it! You'll kill him!" All Might's voice rang from the speakers.

Bakugou just scoffed and continued to pull the trigger, "He'll be fine so long as he dodges!"

Izuku turned and ran as far as he could from Bakugou and then turned and held his arms up to defend himself. The explosion tore through the hallway, and completely obliterated everything in its path. He managed to brace himself right before it hit.

* * *

Uraraka bit her lip to keep herself from laughing, Izuku's words echoing in her mind. Iida was monologuing just beyond the pillar she had hidden herself behind. The dog was right next to her and the hummingbird was somewhere nearby. Apparently it was uncertain of what to do now that it's job was complete but Izuku wasn't there.

Iida continued to remain oblivious to her presence and she decided to use that to her advantage. Apparently, he had taken her quirk into account and had hidden everything in the room except for the bomb. So she would have to use surprise tactics to the best of her ability or else she would never reach the bomb.

Leaning down to the bright red dog, she whispered as quietly as she could into his ear, "as soon as you're sure Iida won't spot you, go to the other side of the room and wait for my signal. Once I sent it, keep Iida's attention away from me as I recover the weapon, okay?"

The dog nodded and she stood back up and pressed her back against the pillar. She was about to contact Izuku when the building suddenly started to violently shake. Stumbling, she caught herself before she gave away her position and distantly noticed that the dog was now gone from her side.

The tremors eventually slowed to a stop and she heard Iida mutter something. Once she was sure the tremors wouldn't start again, she took a quick peek from behind the pillar.

Iida seemed pretty shaken up and disoriented so she took the opportunity to sneak to a closer pillar. Now she was practically right behind him and he was still none the wiser. Though he was still to close to the bomb for her touch it without him reacting.

A glimpse of red was all needed to see before she sent the signal.

A burst of fire flashed across the room. Iida stepped away from the bomb.

Suddenly, she found herself running full speed at the bomb. Jumping up, she latched onto the bomb with her quirk activated.

"I got it!"

* * *

Even with bracing himself, he was sent flying backwards and landed harshly on the rubble from the blast. The entire building shook and dust filled the air.

His entire body felt like it was on fire and he felt his injuries from that morning rend him nearly immobile. His spine was screaming at him and he swore he had a few broken ribs if the immense pain in his chest was anything to go off of.

Sitting up was a real chore, and once he did, he noticed that a good chunk of his coat was now gone, and the sleeves were now nonexistent.

The burn marks were surly going to take a while to heal on there own, not to mention the bruises. Once that thought passed through his mind he instantly started internally panicking. They were going to check his wounds after this, he was sure, and when they did, they were gonna see the bruises. They were clearly too bad to be a result of the attack alone, and anyone with half a brain would able to tell that they were there before the fight started.

He tried to calm himself down by thinking thoughts that obviously weren't true.

_ Maybe they won't look too closely? Maybe they would actually think it came from the explosion?_

"Ha ha ha. These things are amazing. The most nitroglycerin stored in these cuffs, the bigger the explosion is!" The dust was slowly clearing and he could now make out the approaching form of Bakugou.

He felt his ear price and tried contacting Uraraka, but found it missing. _Must have blown off in the explosion._

He hoped Uraraka was doing okay.

"What's the matter? Are you scared?" Bakugou taunted.

Pain stabbed his body, but he forced himself to stand up. If he could keep going, he would.

Bakugou scoffed at this a raised his other gauntlet, "Die!"

"The heroes win!"


	10. Chapter 10

Recovery Girl frowned as she looked at Izuku's unconscious body. Usually she would heal her patients immediately, but when the threat of more serous injuries hung over the patient, she was forced to evaluate their condition.

As her quirk relied on the patients energy, if the injury was serious enough, it could kill the person instead of heal them. So she was left to look at the beat up boy in front of her.

They were currently in Yueei's infirmary, but Izuku had passed out not long after their victory. She had initially been worried about shock, but it seemed he had just passed out from exhaustion as the adrenaline wore off.

After making sure he wasn't in immediate danger, she had brought him back to the infirmary with All Might's help.

He was now laying on the infirmary bed, shirtless, as she inspected his wounds.

His wounds were both what she expected and didn't expect.

The broken bones were to be expected, but the bruising wasn't. She was no fool. Bruises didn't swell this badly for hours, much less in under thirty minutes. The boy had gotten these wounds from before the fight, and she'd be willing to bet, before he even came to school that day.

She mulled her options. The first thing that came to mind was that he fell, but that didn't explain how he had bruising on his front and back, yet none in his arms. Next, he could have been jumped or attacked, but he was a Yueei student, surely he could defend himself.

She didn't get rid of the second option, but she couldn't ignore the third option. It was the most likely in these circumstances, but it was not something to be taken lightly.

The third option was abuse. Yeah, like she said earlier, it wasn't something that you could just jump to conclusions on. What that implied would mean serious consequences, but she just couldn't ignore the option either.

That didn't mean she had to like it.

Nobody was deserving of abuse of any kind, and she could just tell that this Midoryia boy was one of the kindest people you can meet just by looking at him. Maybe it was his messy, green curls, or the natural way his face relaxed into the kind yet tight expression in his sleep, but she knew that he didn't deserve whatever it was that he went through to get these injuries.

But now that she knew the extent of his injuries, regardless of how they came to be, she could heal him. It was her job after all.

Her mouth stretched outwards and she pecked his forehead. The heavy bruising on his chest quickly started faded, but it didn't go away completely. She had focused on the more immediate problems, like the first and second degree burns on his arms and the broken ribs. She also didn't want to tire him out too much before he had a chance to wake up.

After she was done, she looked back over the boy. His face was much more relaxed than before, and he seemed to breathing easier. Recovery Girl smiled, she always loved watching her patients heal.

Turning away from the boy, she walked over to the door. He would take a while to wake up, and she needed to have a talk with Yagi.

Glancing back at the unconscious boy one last time, Recovery Girl stepped out of the infirmary and out into the warm corridor.

* * *

When Izuku woke up, it was to bright lights and white. Groaning, he tried to sit up and gather his bearings, but a slight pain in his chest had him pausing.

He obviously wasn't in the hideout, but if he wasn't in the hideout, then he had no idea where he was. The hideout was the only place he had ever woken up to when injured.

"Now now, don't try to get up too fast. I wasn't able to completely heal your injuries." He glanced over to the direction where the voice came from and saw the form of a small, old woman.

He instantly recognized her.

Gasping, he found himself fangirling once more, "Oh my gosh! You're Recovery Girl! I've seen you before in tv and providing support in battles, but I never thought I'd meet you in person. I mean, I knew you started working at Yuuei a while ago, but I wasn't expecting to actually meet you. Especially just on the second day of school. Oh no," he started panicking, "it's just the second day of school and I've already been to the infirmary! Does that mean I'm too weak? I did get last on the test. Does that mean that they will kick me out? I don't want to be kicked out, but I can understand if they did. I mean-"

"Well you seem to be doing well," Recovery Girl said.

Izuku blushed furiously as she continued on, "I'm glad, I was worried I had healed your injuries too much before you woke up. Though now that you are awake, how are you feeling? Sleepy?"

He nodded, but winced as he moved his head. The world seemed very fuzzy as well, and he suddenly had a hard time keeping his eyes open.

In front of him, Recovery Girl nodded and then hopped out of the chair she had been sitting in. She went out of his vision for a moment, but returned shortly. "You seem to have hit your head, young boy. I would recommend you staying here for the night so that I can check on it and have to you properly rest. I can't force you, though, and I'm sure you'll want to talk it over with you parents." She nodded to the bedside table and the few things laying on top of it, "Your phone and other items are right there, so you can do that in a bit."

Izuku nodded and moved to sit up again. This time he succeeded as Recovery Girl helped him. She built a small rest out of his pillows and he reclined gratefully onto them, "Thank you, Recovery Girl. I don't know where I'd be if you hadn't healed me."

She just laughed, "Not sitting up, that's for sure!" Then the laughter died out and he saw a serious look overtake her features, "Where did you get those bruises? I noticed they were already a few hours old when I saw them."

He felt his face drain of color and he glanced everywhere but at Recovery Girl as he tried to come up with a believable excuse, "W-well, um, you s-see, I, uh," a memory suddenly popped itself into his brain, "I, uh, got jumped on the way to school!" He nervously exclaimed.

Her head tilted to the side and she didn't seem to believe him, but seemed to go along with it anyways, "Well then, you're a Yuuei student, correct?" She continued when he nodded, "How did you get such bruising from a street thug when you've clearly proven yourself a capable fighter?"

Izuku scrambled to come up with an excuse, "I, um, was taken by s-surprise! I d-didn't notice him until I was al-already being at-tacked." The stuttering didn't help, and he could only hope she wouldn't pry to father into it.

She nodded before saying, "Then why didn't you come to the infirmary when you got to school? I would have helped you, you know."

Izuku sheepishly rubbed the back of his head while his head and mind raced, "w-well you see, I was kind of embarrassed."

She frowned, "Embarrassed?"

"Y-yeah. I knew I would have been made f-fun of if people knew, s-so I tried to k-keep quiet about I-it."

Thankfully, she seemed to take his answer and he internally breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't know Recovery Girl likes to interrogate people. It didn't seem to go with her personality, or from what he had seen, at least. It's not like he had actually met her before, so he couldn't judge her too much.

"Like I said before, I recommend you stay here for the night," she said, "It's already almost the end of school, and I would hate for you to home in your current state. If you were attacked and hurt while uninjured, who knows what could happen while you look like that."

Izuku frowned. He hadn't gotten a look at himself yet, but surely it couldn't be that bad. Right?

Recovery Girl seemed to read his thoughts and suddenly brought a mirror out of nowhere. He saw his reflection and quickly looked away. Yup, it was that bad.

Dirt and soot was smeared all over his face, and he could see the faint bruising on his chest from that morning and the battle. His costume was also completely ripped to shreds, or at least from what he could see. He wasn't wearing the top part, but he knew it wasn't faring much better, if at all. Rubble was entangled in his hair as well, and he was hard pressed to find green in all the dust coating his hair.

Going out like this was definitely a no no. He would garner attention faster than a wild fire, and most of it the wrong kind of attention.

"I'll leave you to sort everything out. If you need me, just hit this button." She nodded to a small remote next to his phone.

He squeaked out a small, "O-okay!" And then he was alone with his thoughts.

Looking around, he was able to see a few machines laying around and another bed next to his. It was empty, but he was kind of envious of whoever got that one. It was closer to the window.

He quickly got bored of looking around and finally turned towards his phone. It sat innocently on the bedside table, but that didn't keep him from glaring at it. Scenarios passed through his mind and he tried to find the best one. He really didn't want to go back to the base(and it wasn't just because of how he looked), but he knew Sensei and Shigaraki wouldn't approve of him just deciding that. It would be best to let them decide.

Mind made, he grabbed his phone and quickly typed out a message before he could chicken out.

_ "I got hurt today in training and the doctor here wants me to stay the night. Is that okay? Or should I come back?"_

He hit the send button and held his breath.

A few minutes passed before he got a response.

_ "Fine, but make sure that you don't reveal yourself_. _Also, don't think this will get you out of training when you get back. You'll need to make up for the time you lost_."

He finally released his breath, head spinning slightly, and felt relief flood him. It was surprising that they had actually let him stay, but he figured that they wanted to keep up appearances. It would be strange for his 'parents' to not let him heal before going home.

He was slightly concerned about the training(he could practically hear Shigaraki's laughter in the distance), but it wasn't anything he hadn't been through before.

After texting back his confirmation, Izuku set his phone down and laid back against the pillows once more. Today had been tiring once again, and he just wanted to fall asleep.

He closed his eyes and within seconds fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

"I'm home, you old hag!"

Slamming the door behind him, Bakugou angrily ripped his shoes off and stormed deeper into the house.

"Don't talk to me like that, you little shit!" His mother exclaimed from somewhere in the kitchen.

He scoffed and started towards the stairs, "Whatever."

As he passed by the entrance to the kitchen he was stopped as his mother yelled at him, "Oi! Don't you walk away from me!"

Looking through the arch, he could see his mother standing in front of the stove with her arms crossed and glaring at him. He groaned and turned towards her, "I have fucking homework. I need to get started or else I won't finish."

An unsatisfied look crossed her face, but she nodded anyways, "At least tell me how your day was, brat!"

He rolled his eyes, "It went fucking fine, all right?!" And with that he stormed away. He heard his mother grunt behind him, but he ignored her.

After stomping up the stairs, he entered his bedroom and slammed his door closed. He could heat his mom yell something from downstairs.

He tossed his backpack onto his bed and then unzipped it. Inside was some folders and other school supplies. Pulling out one of the folders and a pencil, he turned to his desk and flopped down into the chair. He opened the folder and took out some of his homework from his various classes. It was easy and mostly review from last year, but he had to do it anyways.

After about an hour or two of doing homework, he had finished most of it. He only had a few questions left from his Algebra class, but it wouldn't take long to do them.

Setting his pencil down, he stretched out his arms and back. His back gave a few satisfying pops and he sighed. A short break couldn't hurt.

Pulling out his phone, he scrolled through the latest hero news. There was one article about how All Might apprehended a few criminals the other day and that got him thinking about that day's hero training.

A scowl overtook his features. They should have won, damn it! If he hadn't been so distracted with that damn Deku, then he wouldn't have let roundface sneak past him!

That Deku...

He didn't know why, but the broccoli head just made him angry. From the moment he first saw him, something stirred in him and it frustrated him to no end. Did he know him from somewhere?

No, he would have remembered him if that was the case. Green hair like that wasn't easily forgettable. Unless it had been from his early childhood...

Maybe he should ask his mom? She would definitely know if they had met before.

Standing up, he walked over to his door. Dinner would be ready soon anyways, he told himself. It's not like he was actually curious about the Deku.

The hinges squealed slightly as he opened the door and he growled in annoyance. He would have to fix that later.

Going down the stairs and entering the kitchen, he saw his mother finishing up the food and putting it on serving plates. Grumbling, he made his way over and wordlessly started helping her.

She looked surprised for a moment, but she grinned a moment later. "I guess you do have a heart after all, brat."

He growled and handed her a bowl of steaming rice, "Shut the fuck up, you old hag."

She just laughed at that. It made him angrier, but he for once didn't act on it. He didn't come down here to be mad at his mom. "Do you know anyone named Midoriya Izuku?"

A loud clatter shattered the careful peace, making Bakugou jump. "Hey! What are yo-"

He turned to see that his mother had dropped the plate onto the counter. Thankfully, it hadn't been far enough to break it, but it had still been loud. But the thing that had him pausing was the look on her face. It looked as though she had seen a ghost.

She slowly turned to look at him, and something on his face must have broke through to her, as she suddenly snapped out of whatever trance she had been in.

"I'm sorry Katsuki, I didn't mean to scare you." She said softly.

Bakugou was shocked. His mother never apologized to him. Then anger overtook him and the concern that had started to rise in his chest, "What the fuck are you apologizing for?! You didn't fucking scare me! What had you so freaked anyway?" He added the last part as a second thought. Not like he care or anything.

(He did.)

She seemed to suddenly become sad, "A friend of mine had a son with that name. Unfortunately, they both went missing not too long after your fourth birthday. His mother's body was found not too long after that, and he was declared dead after months of searching. You only met a few times." She suddenly frowned, "How do you know his name?"

Bakugou quickly looked away. He couldn't tell her now that he knew that. It would just give her false hope. "I just heard it somewhere and thought it sounded familiar, or some shit."

Looking back over, her disappointment was clear, but she seemed to believe his answer, to his relief.

He looked away again. Why did he feel guilty? It wasn't like it was the same person or anything. That was impossible. "What about his dad?"

She seemed surprised by his question, but she answered it nonetheless, "He left before Izuku was born. No idea where he is now." A smile crossed her lips, "It seems like you really care for him, huh."

He bristled, "What the hell are you on about?! I've never even fucking met the kid!"

She laughed, loud and obnoxious, "Well you certainly care more for him than you do with anyone else you've met!"

"Whatever, you old hag."

"What have I told you?!"

"Fuck off!"

"Be careful! You're going to break the fucking plates, you brat!"

Bakugou huffed and gripped the heavy plate better. It was filled of delicious smelling food, and he momentarily wished he had helped cook it. He shook the thought away and made his way into the dining room, where his father had set the table and was finishing the last touches. His mother came in after him and they placed the food onto the table.

Once it was all set and they sat down into their respective places, they said their thanks and started digging into their food. It was absolutely amazing, and soon enough, thoughts of Midoriya Izuku left their minds.


	11. Chapter 11

"Wake up, you sleepy head!"

Izuku startled awake. Recovery Girl was somehow looming over him, and based off of the newspaper in her raised hand, had been trying to wake him for a while.

Raising his hand, he rubbed at his eyes as he struggled to sit up. His skin stretched uncomfortably and looking at his skin, he could see it peeling in some places. That's what he gets for using his quirk too much.

Pain shot through his chest, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been the day before. Recovery Girl helped him from her position on a nearby chair, which made her look a lot taller, and soon enough he was sitting up and looking at Recovery Girl. She seemed tired, but she was somehow just as energetic as she's ever been.

A glance out the window told him it was either the middle of the night, or very early morning. He figured it was early morning. It didn't make much sense for her to wake him up in the dead of night. Plus he felt a lot more well rested than he has had in a long time.

He saw Recovery Girl shift in her spot on the chair once he was settled and said, "Now that you're awake, I can heal the rest of you, and then you can go take a shower. I haven't had a patient stink up the infirmary this badly in a long time."

Heat crawled up face as he nodded. Did he really stink that badly?

She laughed, "Relax! I was joking with you. You sure do take everything seriously, don't you."

The last part didn't sound like a question, so he figured he wasn't supposed to answer. Unfortunately, that just left the conversation hanging awkwardly in the air. Recovery Girl ended up healing him in complete silence, but he was relieved once the remaining pain finally left. He really hadn't felt this good in years, not counting the slight exhaustion that settled in bones.

Recovery Girl gave him some kind of gummy and directed him to the locker room where he could take a shower, and then left. Apparently, she had something important to do, and it couldn't wait. Not that he needed her more or anything, he just didn't want to be left alone.

That in itself was a strange feeling. He had never wanted to be around people before. The League wasn't exactly friendly, and he was too shy to go up and talk to others on his own, so it wasn't like he liked or even had any experience in being in the presence of others. Yet for some reason, he found himself for the first time, not wanting to be left alone.

He didn't mention this to Recovery Girl, as he didn't want to burden her any more than he already had. She had enough to worry about, and she even said as much.

Left to his own devices, he decided to check his phone, but found that it was dead. Sighing, he put it back down. He didn't have a charger for it, so he would just have to deal with the consequences.

After finding his back pack sitting next to the bed and his uniform folded neatly atop the bedside table, he finally got out of bed. The showers weren't too far away, so he grabbed his uniform and a towel and headed out of the infirmary.

His footsteps echoed loudly in the hallway and made him cringe. The lights were on, but he still felt like the shadows were going to jump out at him at any moment. Not to mention how he only saw his reflection when he looked at a window. There were a lot of windows.

All of this did nothing to help calm his nerves, and he felt like he was going to get caught even though he was doing nothing wrong. The building just felt wrong when he wasn't surrounded by students and the silence where he kept expecting to hear chatter unnerved him to no end.

Once he reached the showers, he quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind with a soft click. There were showers lining one wall and a few toilet stalls and sinks on the opposite wall. For the most part, there wasn't anything special about it. Just a normal PE bathroom.

He stepped into one of the showers and set his uniform and the towel on the separate bench part. Closing the curtain behind him, he got undressed. He just dumped his ruined costume onto the floor. It wasn't like the floor would damage it any more than it already was.

The floor underneath his bare feet sent cold chills up his legs and the faint breeze from the air conditioning made him shiver slightly.

Stepping into the actual shower part of the shower, he turned the hot water on full bast. Cold water hit his skin, but hot water eventually burned at his skin. The water running off his body was almost black from the dirt and soot.

Picking up some of the soap, his mind wandered as he cleaned himself. He was curious as to why Bakugou had gone after him with such fervor. Not to mention how he had acted on the first day. As far as he knew, he still hadn't done anything to provoke his classmate. And yet Bakugou still acted like he had somehow personally offended him by just existing. It was confusing, and if Izuku were to be honest, it was starting to piss him off. If Bakugou didn't like him, he would just have to deal. If Izuku had been able to leave whenever people around him didn't like him, he wouldn't be in this situation at all.

His thoughts eventually wandered to Todoroki as well, and he caught himself wondering what he was doing at that moment. He felt his face burn with the rest of his body as he scolded himself. Todoroki probably wanted nothing to do with him after seeing how weak he was and how easily he got beat up. He hadn't even been able to defend himself when it really counted.

Turning off the hot water, Izuku shook his hair out like a dog before he went back into the section where his towel and clothes were. Trying not to think, he dried himself off with the towel and put on his uniform. It was nice feeling and he noticed the wrinkles were gone. They must have cleaned it while he was out. The thought made his face burn, but he was thankful anyways. Now he didn't have to worry about people noticing his dirty uniform. It would still become a problem again later on, but he would worry about that when it came up.

His hair was still slightly damp, but other than that, he felt completely refreshed. It was like he was a totally different person. He had of course taken showers before, but it had been a while. The base didn't exactly have working showers.

Picking up his damp towel and costume, he opened the curtain and exited the shower stall. He felt better as he made his way to the door and left the room.

The sun was now peeking over the horizon as he walked through the hallways once more. He could tell that some of the staff had now arrived as he could hear the occasional slam of a door or the squeak a shoe.

Arriving at the infirmary, he opened the door and saw Recovery Girl working at her desk. She looked up at his entrance and smiled at him, "It's about time you came back! I was starting to worry you slipped and knocked yourself out!"

Izuku rubbed the back of his head nervously, he hadn't realized so much time had passed, "I-I'm s-sorry. I-I didn't realize it had b-been that l-long."

She waved it off, "It's fine. You sure do like to apologize a lot don't you?"

He hung his head and started to mutter a sorry, but he caught himself before he could. Recovery Girl gave him a knowing smile.

She told him that school started in an hour and that he would be given an extra day to do the homework he missed. He nodded and she told him that he could head to class in about half an hour. That gave him some time to grab a snack from the vending machines and anything else he wanted to do.

He ended up using the yen he had used to defend himself when he got jumped on the first day to get himself a snack and drink from the vending machines near the infirmary. It surprised him how many vending machines the school provided. It seemed like there was one in every hallway.

After that, he caught up on some of his homework. He managed to knock out a bit of it before he decided to head to class. Leaving with about twenty minutes before the start of class, he navigated the now busy hallways. Unlike that morning, students filled the hallways, either by walking or standing around talking to friends. It was infinitely louder as well, but he didn't mind it. The noise was much better than the eerie quiet.

Looking out one of the windows, he could see that the sun had risen quite a bit now.

Something caught his attention, and he looked at the gate of the school. There seemed to be a crowd of people gathered around the entrance. They looked to be trying to talk to the students walking through, but they seemed to ignore them for the most part.

He looked away. They must be reporters who found out about All Might working at Yueei. That's the only reason they would even try showing up at the most prestigious hero school in the country.

The rest of the walk was uneventful. He almost ran into a few people, but that was it. Opening the door, he saw a few of his classmates already inside. There was mostly the same people from the first day of school, except Hagakure was missing. If she had been here, he might have talked to her, but she wasn't, so he went and sat down in his seat. He didn't feel comfortable enough with Iida or Yaoyorozu to just go up to them and start a conversation, and they didn't seem to notice his entrance, so he figured it would be best for him to sit down.

Once he sat down, he decided to write in his journal. He had gathered some information the day before about Bakugou and he wanted to update it.

He started writing and he felt himself relax as his pencil slowly filled the page with stats and words. Writing in his journals always helped him calm down and sooth his nerves. It was almost like his stress ball.

That soon ended though when an angry voice interrupted his peace.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" His journal was snatched away from underneath his nose and he quickly tried to grab it back. He froze though when he saw who was standing in front of him.

Bakugou was holding up his journal with a curiously angry look on his face as he read his page. He scoffed and held the book away from him as he flipped through the pages filled with information on his classmates and pro heroes. "What is this? Your stalker journal?"

He flipped to the cover and snorted, "Hero analysis for the future? Number 13? Wow! You're a nerd AND a Deku! Who would've thought!" The journal landed in a heap back onto the desk and Izuku quickly scooped it up into his arms and held it close to his chest. If anything happened to this journal, his life was as good as over. It was the only reason Sensei and Shigaraki hadn't offed him yet.

"Tsk. Whatever, **nerd**. You can keep your fucking stalker journal. Just don't let me fucking catch you writing about me again, got it?"

Izuku blinked at that. For some reason, Bakugou was seeming to take it easy on him. He had fully expected to be ridiculed in front of his classmates. But Bakugou didn't do that. He just flopped down into his seat where Izuku couldn't see his face. He could just see how his shoulders were tense and he was clearly making it a point to ignore Izuku.

Maybe...

Maybe Bakugou didn't hate Izuku as much as he thought he did.

The door opened and it was only when the noise from outside filtered in that he realized how silent the classroom had fallen. Everyone was staring at the two, and Izuku could practically feel their gazes burning into his soul as they judged him. He quickly shoved his journal back into his backpack and hid face face with his hair. This was not how he wanted his day to start. It was not the way he imagined everyone finding out about his notes. They would never talk to him again. They were disgusted by him and he knew they would avoid him like the plague. After all, who wants to be around the weird kid who took notes on people?

"Woah, do you like, know everyone's quirk and stuff?! That's so cool!" He was startled out of his thoughts by the bubblegum pink girl from his class. She was standing next to his desk and a few other of his classmates were gathered behind her with matching looks of excitement. "Do you have a page on me?" She asked.

He shuffled his feet and thought back into what he had seen during the quirk test, "W-well, I don't know e-everyone's quirk, but fr-om what I-I've seen, you have some sort of slime quirk?" He pulled out his journal and nervously flipped to her page. It showed a quick sketch of her in her gym uniform. He wasn't sure how she'd react to seeing her page, but it definitely wasn't this.

"That's awesome! Though you got it wrong. My quirk is called acid, and I'm able to control its solubility and viscosity. It's really helpful when I need to climb a wall or get somewhere fast. If I lower the solubility it becomes less acidic, and if I raise the viscosity, it becomes almost like glue!" She said.

Izuku, in the middle of her talking, had grabbed a pencil and started to hurriedly scribble down everything thing she said. This was way more detailed than anything he had ever gotten before. Most people weren't willing to talk about their quirks to him, so most of his observations were just that, observations.

The other students, in seeing Mina's acceptance, started asking for their pages as well. In just a few minutes, his information on his classmates had nearly tripled in size and detail. It eventually ended when Bakugou had enough of all the talking around him and scared everyone away. But Izuku didn't care, he had gotten more information than he had ever thought was possible, and people had excepted him!

This was possibly the greatest day of his life.


	12. Chapter 12

"Alright, quiet down. It's time for class to start."

Mr. Aizawa walked into the classroom looking just as tired and done with life as he did yesterday. He stopped behind the podium and looked out into the class, "Decent work on yesterday's combat training you guys. I saw the video feeds and went over each individual team's results." He looked over to Bakugou, "Bakugou, you're talented. So don't sulk like a child over your lose, okay?" Izuku could hear a scoff from in front of him.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Midoriya," Izuku flinched, "you did good out there, though you need to work on your combat skills. Don't rely on your quirk so much. But it does come in handy."

He gave a small, "Mmhmm," and stared down at his clenched fists. He really didn't like being called out.

Aizawa looked down, "Let's get down to business. Our first task will decide your future."

The tension in the room rose as the same thought ran through their minds, _Is it another quirk test?!_

"You all need to pick a class representative."

_ Oh good, just normal school stuff._

Instantly, everyone was clamoring over their desks and yelling for everyone to pick them. It was a mad house, as everyone wanted to be the class rep. In a normal classroom, a class representative's duties would just be a bunch of extra work. But in the hero course there's more to it. It's a way for you to get noticed by agencies and prove you can lead a team like a real pro.

He kept his hand down.

"SILENCE EVERYONE, PLEASE!" Everyone instantly quieted down and looked at Iida. "The class representative's duty is to lead others. It not just something that anyone can do. You must first have the trust of everyone in the classroom. Therefore, the most logical way to settle this is democratically. We will hold an election to decide our leader!" His hand shook in the air.

A few people looked unsure, "Are you sure this is the best idea?" Kirishima asked.

Asui added, "We've only known each other for a few days. How can we know who we can trust?"

"Besides," Kirishima said, "everyone will just vote for themselves."

Iida didn't look deterred, "Most people will, but that means that whoever does get multiple votes will truly be the most suitable person for the job." He then turned to look at Mr. Aizawa, who was now in his sleeping bag, "It's the best way, right sir?"

"Do what you want, just decide before my nap's over." And then he fell over.

"Thank you for your trust!"

* * *

"How did I get four votes?!"

Bakugou shot up, "Alright you idiots! Who voted for him?!"

Sero just looked at him like he was crazy, "What? Did you honesty think anyone was going to vote for you?"

That obviously didn't settle well with him, as Bakugou was suddenly in Sero's face while screaming his head off.

Izuku didn't react too much to the people crowding around him. There was no way he could be class representative. He didn't even vote for himself!

All too soon he was standing in front of the class with Yaoyorozu. She was trying to comfort him as well, but she was obviously unsure of herself and ended up not helping much.

"All right, our class rep is Midoriya, and Yaoyorozu is our deputy." Mr. Aizawa said.

Izuku was shaking where he stood and he couldn't help but question it once more, R-really? I-it's, ah, not a-a mis-take, r-right?"

Asui tilted her head, "This might not be so bad!"

_ Thanks, Asui_, he thought sarcastically.

"Yeah," Kirishima said, "I could get behind Midoriya I guess."

"Yaoyorozu was totally on top of it when it came to the training results."

Izuku didn't notice who said the last part, instead he had noticed that Iida seemed to be taking the news extra hard. It confused him, but Izuku figured Iida would tell him if it was anything serious at lunch.

The rest of the class started talking amongst themselves and Izuku tried to sneak off to his seat. Unfortunately, Uraraka, Iida, Hagakure, and Yaoyorozu decides to follow him. He had been hoping to calm his nerves before he talked to his friends, but it seemed like they wouldn't be giving him the chance.

Uraraka smiled at him, "I'm so happy you got picked, Izuku!"

Next to her, he heard Hagakure agree, "Yeah! Great job!" She suddenly leaned closer and he found himself unsure of where to look, "Don't tell Bakugou," she whispered, "but I voted for you."

Beside her, Uraraka and Iida nodded in agreement. With that being said, Izuku suddenly frowned, "But then, if Yaoyorozu didn't vote for me, then who else did?"

Yaoyorozu frowned, "Didn't you vote for yourself?"

Izuku glanced away as he felt heat crawling up his face, "N-no, I, uh, may have actually voted for you?..." His voice trailed off at the end, making it sound like a question.

Yaoyorozu blinked in surprise, "Why did you vote for me?"

He curled into himself, "Um, I-I just thought you w-would be a g-good class rep!" Not good, his voice was starting to do that weird squeaky thing.

Luckily, the bell decided to ring at that moment, saving him from any further embarrassment.

As they were getting ready to leave, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned around. Yaoyorozu was standing behind him looking slightly embarrassed as she said, "Thank you, Izuku. It means a lot to me that you voted for me."

He just gave her a nervous smile, "I-it's no big deal! You don't have to thank me or anything. I just thought you'd be a good class rep!"

He had been trying to calm her, but it seemed to have the opposite effect as she started to tear up. His hands waved about as he tried apologize to her, but she spoke before he could, "Sorry, it's just that I've never had any real friends because of my status. I have good parents and everything, but it's just not the same." She smiled at him, "It's a nice feeling, you know?"

Izuku was dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say as she wiped away the remaining tears and walked to join their growing group of friends.

And the thing is, he _did_ know.

He knew what is was like to have no friends growing up. Not because of status or anything like that, but he had just never been exposed to people his age. This entire time, he has just been winging it. He was honestly surprised he had any friends at all with how socially awkward he must be. To know someone felt like he did _was_ a nice feeling.

Nervousness forgotten, he followed his friends out into the cafeteria. It was another nice day as the sun shone down into the cafeteria through the windows.

Getting their food, they sat down near the middle of the cafeteria in one of those long booths. Kirishima and Kaminari had gone to try and sit with Bakugou once more, and if he didn't know better, he'd say they were actually making progress.

They had just started eating when an alarm suddenly blared out. Conversation was was effectively ended as a voice came over the intercoms, "Warning: level three security breach. Students, please exit the building in an orderly fashion."

And all of a sudden there was movement all around them as everyone ran to the hallways in a non-orderly fashion.

Iida turned to one of the upperclassmen sitting next to him, "What is a level three security breach?!"

The upperclassmen shifted in his seat, "It means someone has managed to get past Yuuei's defenses! This hasn't happened in all three of my years here! We should get going!" And with that he was up and gone like all of his friends.

They were swept up in the crowd and some of his friends were immediately lost. "Ow!" Uraraka said from where she was squished against him and Iida, "This is a total mob!"

"Everyone was quick to react, as I'd expect from Yuuei students!" Iida yelled over the noise.

Midoriya closed his eyes against the pressure from all the people around him, "Sure, but they also caused a huge panic!"

Somebody shoved into him and suddenly he was being pushed away from his remaining friends. "Crap! I can't stop!"

They disappeared and Izuku felt the panic he had been managing to push down slowly start to take over. When his friends had been at his side he had felt at least somewhat contorted by their presence. But now that they were gone, he couldn't stop the fear that crawled up his throat and pushed at the back of his eyes.

His body slammed against the wall opposite of the windows and he desperately tried to melt into it as strangers continued to push in tighter. Was it just him or was it starting to get harder to breathe?

"Midoriya!" His head snapped to the side and he saw Todoroki pop out of the crowd. His face was red and he was panting heavily, but Izuku still found him pretty.

_Wait, what?_

"*huff* Sorry I yelled at you, but I*huff* was afraid you wouldn't hear me otherwise." Todoroki said in between breaths.

Izuku shook his head and he felt the panic instantly go away, "No, it fine. Thank you." He said the last part as an afterthought, and he wasn't completely sure why he had thanked Todoroki, and judging by the look on his face, Todoroki was just as confused as he was.

Todoroki opened his mouth to respond when all of a sudden Izuku saw Iida rise above the heads of the other students. His mouth hung open as he quickly pointed it out to Todoroki. Them and everyone else around them watched as Iida activated his boosters and spun out of control towards wall above the exit. Izuku held back a giggle as Iida landed with his arms splayed out like the guy on the exit sign. Which was right below him, by the way.

"Listen up!" Everyone quieted down as they watched the guy hanging on the wall, "Everything is okay! It's just the media outside! There's absolutely nothing to worry about! Everything's fine!

"We're Yuuei students! We need to remain calm and prove that we're the best of the best!"

All around them, students started relaxing and the pressure that had building up around them started to disperse.

"Oh thank goodness!"

"Look! The police are here!"

The students started talking to each other as they finally looked out the windows. Izuku sighed as a relieved smile made its way across his face. He might not have been able to do anything himself, but thank goodness Iida was there.

An idea popped into his mind.

* * *

"It's time, Midoriya. Let's begin." Yaoyorozu said as they stood in front of the class.

Izuku was still shaking from head to toe as everyone looked at him in anticipation.

"Um, so we need to figure out who the other class officers will be." Izuku said. "But first," he looked down more, "there's something I wanna say."

Yaoyorozu looked at him in surprise, "I've thought a lot about this," he closed his eyes and shrunk into himself even more, "and I think Tenya Iida should be our class rep!"

The tension leaked out of his muscles as the words finally left him. A smile formed on his lips, man he was smiling a lot today, "He was able to capture our attention and get us in line. So I believe that he should be the one leading our class from here on."

The shock on everyone's faces was priceless. They obviously hadn't seen this coming, but he was being honest with himself, he really hadn't either.

"You know what?" Everyone looked at Kirishima, "If Midoirya vouches for him, then I'm good. Plus he was a big help. He totally manned up and took charge, right?"

"Yup!"

"Oh, did you notice how he looked like the dude on the emergency exit sign earlier?"

Iida met Izuku's gaze, and he managed to look back. Izuku got the message.

Thank you.

"This is a waste of time." Mr. Aizawa managed to scare him, even though Izuku had known he was down there the entire time. "I don't care who the rep is, just hurry up." He laid back down.

Iida stood up, "If Midoriya is nominating me for this job," he raised his arm into the air, "then I humbly accept! I pledge to carry the duties of the class rep to the best of my abilities!"

Kirishima grinned from his spot at his desk, "Sounds good, emergency exit."

"Emergency Exit Iida. Don't let us down man!"

At this point, everyone was cheering on Iida(except for Bakugou), and Izuku didn't think Iida had ever looked as happy as he did in that moment.

He was glad that he could still help others.


	13. Chapter 13

"Today's training will be a little different." Mr. Aizawa said, "you will have three instructors: me, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you."

The class gasped at this, and murmuring started as the students tried to figure out why they would need three pros.

Izuku couldn't help but think about the break in from earlier that day. Maybe it was because of that?

Sero leaned out into the isle as his hand popped up, "Sir! What kind of training is this?"

Mr. Aizawa pulled out a white and blue card, "Rescue. You'll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, stuff like that."

People instantly got excited, "Disasters? Sounds like we're in for a work out." Kaminari said.

Mina turned to him, "Totally!"

Kirishima looked excited too as he leaned over his desk, "Real hero stuff! This is what separates the men from the boys." He grinned as he straighten and clenched his hands into fists, "I'm shaking with excitement!"

Izuku faintly heard Asui say something along the lines of, "I'll get to show off how good I am in water, ribbit," from across the room.

"Guys, I'm not finished yet." The talking died off as Mr. Aizawa continued, "What you wear is up to you. I know you're excited about costumes."

He raised a hand and the boxes containing their costumes came out of the wall once more, "But keep in mind that you haven't gotten used to them yet; they might limit your abilities."

"This special training is at an off campus facility so we'll be taking a bus to get there." He turned and started walking away, "That's all. Start getting ready."

Everyone got out of their seats and hurried to their costume boxes. Izuku stayed where he was as he mulled over his thoughts.

Rescue training was something very important to a hero's career, and it was second only to battling villains when it came to gathering popularity.

It was also kind of ironic.

They were teaching a kid how to save others, but they didn't even realize that _he_ needed saving.

...Not that he wanted them to.

He could handle the repercussions, but he knew that they couldn't.

Sighing, he pushed himself up and moved forwards, but was stopped by Bakugou's growling face, "What are you fucking huffing about, nerd?"

He blinked in surprise before looking away, "N-nothing!"

He really didn't feel like being yelled at right now, but he couldn't exactly tell him the truth either.

"Whatever, nerd." And with that Bakugou turned and left him standing there.

"Hey Midoriya. Some of us are trying to get through."

Izuku turned and saw Mineta standing impatiently behind him. He felt his face heat up and he quickly apologized, "I-I'm sorry!"

He turned around and once he realized the path was clear of any angry blondes, he quickly made his way out of the isle. Most of the students in their hurry had left already, and he was left to safely walk out of the classroom without bothering anyone else.

Walking to the locker rooms was a quiet ordeal. No body else really seemed to notice him and he was kind of glad for it. Sure, that morning had been unsettling in the silence, but all of the talking was starting to wear down on him.

Reaching the locker rooms, he made a beeline straight to his locker. His gym uniform was still inside from when they did quirk tests.

He glanced around to make sure nobody was looking, and quickly switched into his gym uniform. If he waited for everybody to leave this time, he risked running late. And he knew Mr. Aizawa would leave him behind if he was late, unlike All Might.

His body was littered with old scars. Most of the newer ones had been healed when Recovery Girl treated his wounds, but his scars still remained from the countless times

Shigaraki had beaten him to near death. Shigaraki really didn't like him most of the time. The only reason he had survived under him when he was too little to do anything was to serve as a punching bag. It at least helped Shigaraki with letting off some steam. He liked helping people, even those like Shigaraki. It was just in his nature.

Pulling on his shoes, he stood up and stretched. His back popped a few times and his arms felt refreshed as they lowered back down to his sides. He liked stretching. A lot. But then again, a lot of people did too. Why else would they stretch so much?

There weren't a lot of people still in the locker room, so he took that as a sign to hurry up. Placing his school uniform into his locker and closing the door, he walked out alone. There were a few students ahead of him, but he kept his distance. He didn't want to impose.

The walk to the front of the building was surprisingly short now that he knew the way. It was also quite nice. Today really was beautiful, and the view from inside was absolutely breath taking.

A small smile pushed at the corners of his mouth and let it form. He knew the sense of peace he was feeling wouldn't last forever, so he would enjoy it as much as he could.

He reached the front doors and punched them open. The sunlight was warm against his skin, but not overly so. The wind was a gentle caress on his skin, and the faint scent of flowers was carried through the air.

All of his classmates were scattered about in front of a nice looking bus talking to each other. Looking around, he didn't see Iida or Uraraka, so he walked forwards to see better.

It wasn't too long until he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. "Izuku?"

He turned around and saw Uraraka standing behind him in her hero costume, "What are you doing in your PE clothes? Where's your costume at?"

"Oh, well my costume was kinda trashed." He said. "I'm still waiting for the support company to fix it up."

A shrill whistle cut though the air. "Gather around class 1-A! Using your student numbers, go into two lines so we can lid the bus efficiently.

Izuku felt sweat dropped as he continued to blow the whistle, "Iida's really kicking it into high gear as our class rep, huh?"

Uraraka nodded.

They fell into the two lines as Iida said, but ended up sitting wherever as the buses layout didn't allow for his seating arrangement to work.

The bus started up and they were moving. Iida sulked slightly from where he sat, "The bus's open layout ruined my boarding strategy."

Mina tried to comfort him, "Iida, you really need to chill."

Izuku thought it was safe to say that it didn't help.

Asui piped up as well, "there's been something I've been meaning to ask." She turned to Izuku, "It's about you actually."

Izuku was surprised to say the least, " O-oh really? What is it, Asui?"

She frowned, "I told you to call me Tsui."

He quickly glanced away, embarrassed, "Oh, yeah right."

"That power of yours, can you just make sentient objects from paper, or can you make non-sentient objects as well? Like Momo?"

Izuku thought for a moment as he pondered how to best explain it, "Well, my quirk depends on me giving paper instructions. I'd still be able to create the object, but since it can't follow any instructions, it would be useless and just self destruct, basically." He subconsciously winced, "It's not fun."

Kirishima interjected, "Still, it must be nice to have a simple emitter-type quirk. You can do a lot of stuff with it." He held out a hand and hardened it, "My hardening super strong and can destroy bad guys in a fight, but it's not all that impressive."

Izuku looked at his arm in wonder and he could practically feel the stars forming in his eyes, "Ah no way! I think it's really awesome looking! You're definitely pro material with a quirk like that."

Kirishima brought his arm back in front of him, "You really think so? Seems like it would be easier to become a popular hero if I had something flashier."

Aoyama said, "My naval lazar has the perfect combination of panache and strength."

Mina laid a hand in his shoulder, "But it's way lame if it gives you a stomach ache sweetie."

Izuku silently laughter at that while Kirishima continued speaking,"Well, if any of our classmates have pro quirks, it's Todoroki and Bakugou."

"Sure, but Bakugou's always angry so he'll never be that popular." Asui said.

And Izuku swore he had never wanted to laugh so hard in his life. He would have, too, if he wasn't certain that Bakugou would murder him for it.

Bakugou jumped out of his seat, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?! I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

Asui pointed at him, "You see."

"You know, we all just met you," Kaminari said, "So it's kind of telling that we all know your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage."

Bakugou exploded, "I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET THE DAY YOU APPLIED TO THIS SCHOOL, YA LOSER!"

Welp, there goes all of Kaminari's progress.

"I'L KILL YOU!"

Looks like Kirishima is going to have to find someone else to attempt to be friends with Bakugou now.

The argument continued until Mr. Aizawa broke it up, "Hey hey, we're here. Stop messing around."

The class responded with a chorus of 'yes sir's.

They arrived in complete silence and everyone got off the bus without speaking a word.

They were greeted by a marshmello-looking person. "Greetings everyone! I've been waiting for you!"

Izuku gasped and he didn't even notice how he started rambling, "It's the space hero, 13! The chivalrous pro who's rescued a ton of people from disasters across the world!"

Uraraka cheered, "Woohoo! 13 is one of my favorite heroes!"

13 gestured to the rest of the building, "Can't wait time show you what's inside."

"This is going to be awesome!"

Kirishima was one of the first students to say something as they entered the building, "Holy crap, this looks like some type of amusement park."

13 pointed out each section, "A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a wind storm, etc. I created this training facility to prepare you to deal with different types of disasters. I call it, the Unforeseen Simulation Joint! But you can call it, USJ!"

_Just like Universal Studios Japan._

Mr. Aizawa walked up to her, "Hey, shouldn't All Might be here already? Let me guess, he booked an interview instead."

13 walked closed to him and said something that he couldn't hear to Me. Aizawa. He only heard Mr. Aizawa say, "That man is the height of irresponsibility," when he turned towards them slightly.

What does that mean?

Mr. Aizawa looked at them, "Clocks ticking, we should get started."

Behind him, 13 raised her arms slightly, "Excellent! Before we begin let me say one thing. Er, well maybe two, possibly three, four, or five."

_We get it._

"Listen carefully," she raised her hand, "I'm sure you're all aware that I have a powerful quirk. It's called Blackhole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it to dust."

Shyness forgotten, Izuku stepped forward, "Yeah, you've used Blackhole to save people from all kinds of disasters before, haven't you?" Uraraka nodded rapidly behind him.

"That's true." 13 said, "But my quirk could very easily be used to kill. Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous." Realization dawned on the students, "In our superhuman society, quirks are stringently document and regulated, so we often overlook how dangerous they can actually be. Please don't forget that if you lose focus, your powers can be deadly. Even if you're trying to do something virtuous like rescue someone.

"Thanks to Aizawa's fitness tests, you have a solid idea of your quirks potential. And thanks to All Might's combat trading, you likely experienced how dangerous your quirk can be when used on other people. Carry those lessons over to this class. Today, you will learn how to use your quirks to save people's lives.

You won't be using your quirks to attack villains or each other, only to help. After all, that's what a hero is all about: ensuring the safety of others."

_ 13 is so cool!_

She bowed, "Thanks so much for listening to what I have to say."

Everybody started cheering, even as Mr. Aizawa tried to get their attention, "All right, now that that's over-" the lights suddenly sparked with electricity and then darkened. Mr. Aizawa stiffened and suddenly turned around.

There was a black a purple mist forming in front of the sputtering fountain and Izuku felt his face pale.

_ Is that Kurogiri?!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Is that Kurogiri?!_

The purple mist continued to expand and he could now make out figures appearing from the mist.

Yup, that is definitely Kurogiri. Izuku didn't know anyone else who had such a specific teleportation quirk.

Then he saw Shigaraki appear and Izuku nearly fainted right then and there.

_Why didn't they tell me about this?!_

Panic swelled up in his chest and he found his breath coming in short gasps. Thoughts swirled around in his head and were definitely not helping in the slightest. Luckily, it seemed everyone was too distracted at the moment by the villains coming out of thin air to notice him freaking out.

...Or maybe not so luckily.

(He really wanted someone to comfort him right now.)

"Woah, what is that thing?" Kirishima was the first to speak, "Has the training started already-?"

"Stay back!"

Everyone flinched as Mr. Aizawa yelled. Looking over, Izuku saw him move his yellow goggles over his eyes. "This is real, those are villains."

Izuku's heard everyone gasp, but he focused on how Kurogiri kept bringing more and more villains into the USJ. There didn't seem to be an end to them.

Kurogiri's voice echoed through quiet building, "The any real heroes I see are Eraserhead and 13. Perplexing. According to the schedule we achieved from Yuuei, All Might should be here as well." His head and two yellow eyes formed above Shigaraki.

Mr. Aizawa stepped forward, "So you scumbags used the press as a cover and snuck onto campus."

"Where is he?" Shigaraki said, "I went through the trouble to bring so many friends who wanted to meet him. They want All Might, the great Symbol of Peace."

By this point, the villains had stopped coming out and Kurogiri shrink into a black and purple mass behind Shigaraki and a Nomu that Izuku had finally gotten around to noticing.

Shigaraki's arms raised, "I can't believe he's not here. Maybe if I kill a few kids he'll come out to play."

Mr. Aizawa's scarf exploded into movement at that comment, which confused Izuku. Didn't he hate them or something? Why else would he threaten to expel them?

"What? Real villains? No way, how could so many of them get into a Yuuei facility this secure?" Kirishima said.

Yaoyorozu pushed her way to the front, "Yeah, 13!" She called out, catching the attention of said hero, "Why aren't the alarms going off?"

13 glance back at them for a moment before turning back around, "Good question. I'm not sure." We gasped.

Todoroki spoke up as he seemed to analyze the situation, "Is the entire campus under attack? Or is this their any target? Either way, one of them must have a quirk that's masking their presence here. They carefully chose this isolated facility as an entry point at a time when a class was being taught." His frown deepened, "They're fools for trespassing here, but they've thought this out. What ever they've planned, they must have a concrete objective in mind. But what is it?"

By the time he finished, everyone was staring out him and feeling even more creeped out than before.

Mr. Aizawa walked up to 13, "13, get them out of here and alert the main campus. Actually, if they've got a way to block the sensors, then they might be blocking our regular communications too. Kaminari, try using your quirk to contact the school."

Kaminari quickly nodded and lifted a hand to the block looking thing on his right ear, "Yes sir."

Izuku couldn't help it, his instincts were screaming at him to stop his teacher from jumping into battle. From jumping into his _death_. The headless figure sprawled on the ground flashed through his mind. "What are you gonna do?! There's too many of them to fight on your own! Even if you can nullify their quirks, your fighting style isn't suited for this. Your quirk works best in stealth and one-on-one fights." His gazed cast downwards, "That's not going to help with a group."

"You can't be a pro if you only have one trick." Izuku's head shot upwards in surprise as he heard Mr. Aizawa's response. He looked away from him and his gaze settled once more on 13. "I'll leave it to you, 13."

She nodded, and with that, Mr. Aizawa was off in a blur. The villains with long rang looking quirks seemed to get into position and started firing at him. Or, at least, they were supposed to.

They seemed to fall apart as they realized that their quirks were failing them, allowing Mr. Aizawa to land hits on them.

Class 1-A watched in amazement as their teacher fought the villains with seemingly no effort at all. It was unfortunate that he was too far away to hear anything. He could just imagine what things Shigaraki was saying right now. He was obviously irritated. Izuku could tell by the way he had started to scratch at his neck.

"Come on everyone!" 13 dragged their attention away from the fight, "Let's go!"

His classmates started running, but Izuku took a moment to look back on the fight. "Wow. I guess I shouldn't have underestimated him."

Iida's voice shook him out of his thoughts, "This is no time to be analyzing. We have to go!" Izuku turned to Iida and nodded before he started running.

They were almost to the exit when Kurogiri started forming in front of them. He effectively cut them off as they were forced to stop.

"Greetings, we are the League of Villains. I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello."

Izuku would have been in wonder from how willing Kurogiri was speaking to them if he wasn't currently fearing for his life.

"And besides," he continued, "isn't this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take his last breath?"

Izuku sucked in a breath. He knew that everyone in the League of Villains had been planning ways to kill All Might(just look at the Nomu), but he didn't think they'd actually put something into motion so soon. He at least thought that they would wait until he had more information.

Apparently not.

"I believe he was supposed to be here today and yet I see no sign of him. There must have some sort of change in plans that we could not have foreseen." The mist spread out as if he was spreading out his arms, "Ah well, I suppose it doesn't matter. I still have a role to play."

Suddenly Bakugou and Kirishima were leaping at Kurogiri with their fists pulled back. Izuku winced at their stupidity.

A cloud of smoke obscured his vision after Bakugou let loose a large explosion and Izuku realized he couldn't see anyone. Or for that matter, anything at all through the smoke.

"Did you think we were just gonna stand by and let you tear this place to shreds?" Kirishima.

The smoke started to clear and he could faintly see Kurogiri's mist.

"You certainly live up to your school's reputation." His body reformed and seemed to pulse, "but you should be more careful children, otherwise someone might get hurt." Kurogiri stood unharmed, as if the attack hadn't even faxed him.

The smoke had mostly cleared now and he could see 13 as she settled into a secure stance, "You two, get out of the way right now!"

The purple mist burst from his body like tentacles, "I'll scatter all of you across the facility to meet my comrades," the mist surrounded them, "and your deaths!"

Izuku raised an arm to protect his eyes from the wind and mist that surged around them. There was a lot of things going on around him, but he couldn't help but turn his attention inwards.

His emotions were all out of wack, but he managed to latch onto one. The confusion.

Sure, he was afraid, but he couldn't help but wonder about the whys. Why was the League of Villains here? Why didn't they tell him?_ Why was Kurogiri attacking him too?!_

The darkness enveloped him and he felt the tendrils nipping at his exposed skin. Tears threatened to escape his eyes as he squeezed them shut. His feet were starting to slip from where he had them braces on the ground, and he felt fear constrict his throat.

Sound was completely lost to him as well. He could hear the cry's of his fellow classmates, but he couldn't tell where they were. And he swore the amount of yelling around him was diminishing by the second.

Suddenly the ground lurched out from under his feet and he felt the familiar, stomach churning feeling of unprepared teleportation. He had experienced it a few times now, but he would never get used to the sudden lost of awareness and the disoriented feeling that rocked him.

The feeling diminished and the feeling of falling suddenly overcame him. He forced his eyes open against the wind and instantly panicked.

He was free falling straight towards the lake, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.


	15. Chapter 15

The water was cold as he plunged into it. It was the bone chilling type of cold. The type of cold that makes you're body literally stop working as it tries to compute what the in the world just happened.

He sits there for a moment, the sting from hitting the water not really registering, along with literally everything else as well. The light from the surface slowly fading, the air bubbles that passed through his open lips, the villains swimming straight towards him...

...Wait what?

Fear slams into him and he finds himself scrambling for the surface. But it's so far away, and the lack of oxygen was already starting to affect him.

The villain might have looked slightly familiar, but it didn't matter. Either way, the fact that he was a spy for them clearly didn't matter in the slightest. He was going to die anyway.

...Except he didn't.

The water around him pushed and swirled around him as something suddenly came torpedoing into the villain.

Looking up, he saw the green figure of Asui pushing off the now immobilized villain. She looked up and met his gaze, "Hey Midoriya!" Her tongue launched out of her mouth and wrapped around him. He wasn't going to lie, it was weird to have a tongue binding him, but at the same time he found he didn't really care. It was going to save his life after all!

She shot towards the surface, dragging him with her. He found himself being lifted out of the water by the raw strength of a _tongue_ and being set onto the deck of the large boat. It unwrapped from around his body and he watched as the tongue moved like it had a mind of its own. He shuddered.

Mineta was slammed down next to him a moment later, but Izuku didn't pay any attention to him as he sat up. He struggled onto his feet and shuddered at how the wind chilled his damp thing. His clothes clung uncomfortably to his body, but otherwise he was completely fine. He felt a wave of appreciation wash over him. Asui was climbing up the side of the boat.

"You saved my life, Asui."

Her head popped up from the edge of the boat, "I told you to call me Tsu."

She clamored over the rest of the railing as he spluttered and tried to correct his mistake.

After waiting for him to stop, she continued on, "This is turning out to be a terrible day of class."

"Yeah," he nodded, "I can't stop thinking about what K-that villain said." He hoped she didn't notice his slip up. "They knew our whole schedule and who would be here. They must have gotten into school files while we were stuck in the cafeteria. The teachers were busy trying to get the media off school grounds." He glanced at Asui, "That means that they've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack, just like Todoroki said they were."

Of course, it's not like he didn't already know all of this. He figured that they would still kill him if he let the secret slip. Why would they go through so much trouble if they didn't still need him for something? After all, he still hadn't given them any of the information that he had gathered about his classmates.

His stomach churned at that thought. Maybe... he shouldn't be getting so close to his classmates. It would only hurt him in the end-

He shook those thoughts away. Now was not the time. He would just have to sort that out later.

Mineta quickly jumped into the conversation and Izuku was painfully reminded that he was there, "Hey, hold on just one second! It's not like these guys can really kill All Might." He turned and started weakly punching the air, "Once he shows up, he'll pound these guys until there's nothing left!"

"Think about it though," Izuku turned back to Asui, "If the villains spent so much time planning this attack, then they probably figured out a way to kill him."

He flinched at that thought. Izuku didn't want All Might to die, never has, but he knew that if anybody had the power to actually try, it was the League of Villains. Just the Nomu would be challenging on its own, but with everyone else as well, All Might was certainly at a heavy disadvantage.

Asui continued, "And didn't you hear what that smoke guy said? Maybe we should worry more about not getting tortured to death. Otherwise we might not survive long enough to see All Might again." Izuku glanced at the now shaking Mineta, "And even if he does show up, who knows if even he'll make it out in one piece."

Mineta looked downright terrified as he turned to Izuku, "No! The pros are going to save us, right?! Tell frog boobs to shut up!"

Asui turned to him with a slightly offended, "Ribbit." Izuku couldn't help it. A giggle escaped him.

The sound of rushing water caught their attention, right before the yelling did. "You bastards! I'll enjoy eating you!"

Mineta freaked out, "Hwaah! Bad guys!"

He knew why they were here, and why they wanted to kill All Might. He could have figured that out even without being in the situation he was. But that didn't matter. He needed to help his classmates. They were in trouble and needed his help. If the League questioned him about it later, then he would just say he was staying in character. For now, he needed to be a hero, not the villain he was forced to be.

Izuku clinched his hand into a fist as determination steeled his nerves, "If they can beat him, then we have to stop whatever it is they're planning. We have to work together and keep All Might safe. No one at Yuuei knows what's happening. This is up to us. Let's be heroes!"

They looked at him and nodded. Izuku smiled, "Now listen up, I've got a plan."


	16. Chapter 16

_ "The number you have dialed is out of service or is temporarily disconnected. Please check the number and then try again. Thank you."_

Toshinori sighed and lowered the phone. "Can't get through to 13 or Aizawa," he said to himself, "then again, they are teaching."

His thoughts turned sour, "Unlike me. I'm neglecting my duties because I spent the entire morning commute being heroic. Amateur move. What was I thinking?"

A thought occurred to him, "Maybe I should just show up and something inspiring at the end." He like that idea, "Yeah, I can get a good ten minutes out of my hero form."

With a grunt, he transformed into his hero form, already in pose. "Time to join my students-!"

Blood squirted our of his mouth and the pain in his stomach and lungs made it difficult to breathe or move properly.

The door rolled open, "Hold your horses."

Toshinori turned to see a fully dressed mouse-looking creature standing in the doorway. His surprise was obvious.

"H-hello, Nezu sir."

He raised a paw, "That's me! The one who could be a mouse or a dog or a bear, though the only important thing is: I'm the principal!"

Toshinori knelt down to the principle's height and waddled forward. "Your fur looks especially well groomed and glossy today, sir." He said.

Nezu walked forward while saying, "The secret is Keratin." He stopped, "I'm not sure humans can get this kind of lustrous shine. But we can talk about grooming later." He pulled a tablet out and showed him the screen, "Look at the news. Shall I read it to you?" Before Toshinori could respond Nezu continued, "It says you resolved three incidents in just one hour."

He sighed and looked down which caused a shiver to run up his spine. "The fault mainly belongs to the ruffians who still cause trouble in the city despite you being here. But you also have to learn not to react every time you hear of an incident."

Toshinori felt his grip on his legs tighten as his form started to slip from his grasp. "You haven't changed in all these years. You've always been proactive, only now your heroism must be limited due to your injury." Nezu turned to the side and started slowly walking, "Plus you've got the added work of looking for and training One For All's successor. You insist on remaining the Symbol of Peace," steam started rising from his body, "and the only way you can justify staying out of the spotlight is by teaching." He stopped and turned his head towards him, "That's why I gave you this job.

"Oh dear, you're smoking. That can't be good."

Toshinori turned back into his skeletal form in a puff, the muscles of his hero form gone as if they had never been there.

"It looks like you need to stay here in the lounge and relax a little while longer." He sounded smug. Or maybe that was just his imagination. He didn't know at this point.

The pain was almost completely gone now that he was in his "normal" form, do he turned to look as the principle jumped onto the couch like a dog while saying, "The others teachers will understand. They are more than capable.

"But now that you are a teacher here All Might," Toshinori ran/waddled over to the other side of the coffee table as the principle sat down, "I really wish that you'd prioritize your students over your hero work. They deserve it." Oh, now that one stung. "After all, there are plenty of other hero agencies working throughout the city."

"Yeah," Toshinori said and looked down, "You're right, principle. So I was gonna head over to the USJ to make an appearance now actually, if you don't mind." He really wanted to escape Principle Nezu. And soon.

The sound of the principle picking up the steaming kettle filled the momentary silence, "Even if you went now, you'd have to return almost immediately." He poured the hot tea into a tea cup. "So you might as well stick around and listen to some of my teaching philosophies. They could prove to be useful."

_Great_, he thought,_ this is turning into a lecture._

Nezu pushed one of the red filled cups towards Toshinori, "Here, drink up." He then proceeded to sip at his own cup.

Toshinori felt sweat roll down the back of his head. _He's always so long winded whenever there's tea involved_, he thought agonizingly.

He glanced to the side for a moment while his thoughts drifted, I'm still a little concerned that I couldn't get in touch with 13 or Aizawa.

"Let's start with combat pedagogy as viewed through the lens of ethical quirk use." Nezu said.

"Yeah, you haven't changed much all these years either, sir."

* * *

"Huh?! What do you mean fight?! Are you crazy?!"

Izuku has just finished explaining the plan to Asui and Mineta, and Mineta apparently decided to start freaking out again.

"These guys might be able kill All Might, and you think we can take them?! Did you hit your head when we got warped here!" He started stomping around and crying like a child, "The best plan is to wait for a real pro from Yuuei to come save us!"

Izuku kept calm as he looked out into the water, "Think about it, those villains down there clearly have an advantage in the water and assume that's where we'll fight."

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!"

Asui spike over Mineta, "If that's the case, then they must have known what was inside the USJ before they warped in."

Izuku nodded and chose his words carefully, "Yeah, but for a group with such careful planning, there's one that really sticks out to me. Something that just doesn't add up. They sent you here, Asui." He realized his mistake a moment later and desperately tried to backtrack, "Uh, whoops, I meant Tsu!" He sputtered out and waved his arms in front of him. "Y-yeah," he tried to continue, "t-they warped y-you to the shipwreck zone."

She looked at him with a bemused smile, "That kind of fell apart on you, didn't it."

His shoulders slumped, "A little bit."

"But why does it matter that she's here!" Izuku winced from the volume. At least he could count on Mineta to always remind him of their impending doom. He actually had a use for once.

Izuku sobered up, "Yeah okay, right." He looked towards the water once more, it means that the villains probably have no idea what our quirks are."

_Obviously._

Realization dawned on Asui's face, "Ribbit, you've got a point." She looked over at the red dome with flames on it, "If they knew I was a frog, they would have sent me to the fire dome over there instead of somewhere full of water."

Thoughts were running a mile-a-minute through his head as he spoke, "They probably separated us because they didn't know what we could do, and planned to overpower is once we were in smaller groups. Easier to pick us off one-by-one."

Izuku felt a wave of inspiration hit him, "We can use that to our advantage. For all they know, the three of us could be super powerful." Izuku nodded to the still villains in the water, "Look, none of them are trying to climb into the boat. That proves they're a little unsure."

His mouth turned downwards, "But that means they won't underestimate us either. They're being smart and playing it safe...For now."

The silence stretched on as the foreboding words hung over them like a dark cloud. Any lightheartedness they may have been enjoying just a minute earlier was now completely gone. It seemed as though they finally realized the situation they were in.

They ended up crouched in a triangular formation while facing each other. They didn't want the villains to be able to see them plan. Not that anyone was really offering any ideas at the moment.

Asui attempted food salvage the conversation, "So let's talk quirks. I'll go first if you want." They didn't respond. "Obviously I can jump high, and cling to pretty much any wall. And of course there's my tongue; I can stick it out about 20 meters."

She straightened her back slightly as if remembering something, "Oh yeah, I can also spit out my stomach to clean it: that's not really useful. Finally, I also secrete a toxic mucus. It just stings a bit."

Her eyes rolled back in thought, "we can probably only use my jumping and my tongue here. Forget about those last things."

Izuku would definitely _not_ be forgetting about those last things._ Anything and everything._

He had known about a few of those things already, thanks to her generously providing him information earlier that day. But he had no idea that her quirk allowed her such a variety of tools. "Wow, I figured you were powerful, but that's just amazing."

Glancing down, he cringed at the sight of soaked through pouches. He found something else to add to his redesign of his costume: waterproof pouches.

"My quirk is basically paper manipulation. I can control paper and turn it into anything I tell it to." He opened one of his two pouches and took out two slightly off-colored papers that looked completely dry. "Almost all of my paper is ruined by the water, but luckily I brought two waterproof pieces of paper with me." He shrugged at their questioning gazes, "I didn't know what I would need, so I just took a bit of everything with me." He waved the papers sheepishly, "Good thing I did, right?"

Mineta started talking as if Izuku hadn't said anything, "I've got these sticky balls." The purple ball came off his head seamlessly and was replaced with another so quickly, Izuku almost missed it. He put it on the wall and pat it awkwardly, "The strength varies; depending on what I'm feeling, they might stick to something a whole day." He started to endlessly pat the ball(it was started to weird him out), "They grow back as fast as I can pull them off, but I'll bleed if I use too many." He(finally) stopped patting it, "Oh and they don't stick to me. I just bounce right off of them."

Asui and Izuku just stared at him and Mineta stared back. Suddenly, he started bawling, "Waah! This is why I said we should wait for the real heroes! My quirk is totally unfit for battle and we're gonna diiiiieee!"

Izuku quickly tries to placate him, "N-no! You have an incredible power, really! We just need to figure out how to use it!"

Suddenly, the boat split in two as a giant hand came out of nowhere and smashed through the middle of the boat.

He cried out as he tried to balance on the quaking half of the boat that they were standing on. It was hard.

Over the commotion, he heard one of the villains say something about being bored.

Seriously?!

They ended up crouched on the floor again.

"That's a great power." Asui said, "Now were sinking."

Thank you, captain obvious.

Mineta ran forward, and despite Izuku telling him not to, he started to freak out. He threw his (hair balls?) over the edge of the boat and into the water.

Izuku raised his hands, and even though he had his own look of terror on his face he told Mineta, "You gotta calm down!" when he turned to him and pointed to where he threw his balls.

Still crouching, Izuku nervously peaked over the railing of the sinking boat, "They'll guess your quirk."

He paused right after he said that. In the water below them, the villains were shooing away the purple balls that were slowly floating towards them.

_Wait, they're afraid to touch them._

Izuku got an idea.

Meanwhile, Mineta stumbles back and crashed into the wall of the boat. "Ah! We're fish food!"

Asui looked at his curiously, "So Mineta, are you really sure the hero thing is right for you?"

Mineta exploded, "Shut up! It's weirder not to be scared right now!" Tear streamed down his face. "We just got out of junior high a little while ago. I didn't think I'd be facing death a few days after starting Yuuei! (Ok, I'm removing this part of his speech. I just... _can't_)

"Listen up." Izuku said determinedly, "An enemy that's certain of their victory is bound to make a mistake. All Might said something along those lines in a TV interview a while back." What? There was a TV in the bar area. So long as nobody caught him, he could watch All Might as much as he liked.

"What does that mean?" Mineta said despairingly. Then, he gasped.

Izuku's body shook in fear even as his words contradicted what his body said, "Nows our chance. We can beat them!"

He turned around and have them the most confident look he could muster. They looked back at him.

* * *

"Aahhh!"

Izuku ignored Mineta's frantic whispers behind him, instead focusing on his thoughts.

He thought about the most confident person he knew. _Come on, act like Bakugou._

"NOW DIE!" He jumped off the railing as the villains looked up at him.

One of the villains raised his hand as water encompassed it. "Dumb move, kid. Now your going to be the one to die."

Izuku drew his ungloved hand back as he concentrated on the piece of paper crumpled in his fist. He would need to be quick. He wasn't sure how long he would have after he created it.

A small box formed in his hand as he started to lose momentum and fall. He threw it down as hard as he could when he got close enough and braced himself.

The box hit the water and suddenly he was being propelled up as the water exploded. Izuku lost sense of where he was going and called out in a random direction, "Tsu, Mineta! Now!"

He didn't see them take off in all of the confusion, but he felt Asui's tongue wrap around his midsection for the second time that day. They were then on the the move.

The water was sucked into a whirlpool, sucking the villains that had once circled the boat into one point. Suddenly, Mineta was yelling from above him as purple balls rained down from above, "Take this, you villains! You can eat my sticky balls!"

The purple balls stuck onto the villains, making it hard for them to move and sticking them to each other. They were all pulled into the middle as the water dragged them with it.

They just barely missed being hit by the fountain of water at it exploded upwards. The boat and the ball of villains went flying with it.

"We rounded them all up." He heard Asui say, "Not too shabby." They continued flying through the air and above the water. "I guess we passed the shipwreck zone."


	17. Chapter 17

They waded through the water as the boat and villains alike groaned. Mineta giggled from where Asui was dragging him along by the scarf. "Hehe, I had a good poop this morning. That makes my balls stickier. They're not going anywhere."

Izuku ignored him as he got caught up in his habitual muttering. "Can't believe we managed to get all of them at once. It took everything I had to keep my composure. It was such a gamble. What is they'd had hidden reserves underneath the water that we didn't know about? They could have shot us out of the air-"

Asui took the liberty of breaking him out of his muttering this time by saying, "You're creeping me out. Stop it. Please."

He finally stopped and looked over at her. She continued after they all stopped walking, "Instead of second guessing what we already did, shouldn't we be thinking about our next move?"

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, you're totally right." He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "We should make getting help the top of our priority." He pointed to the grayish looking building next to the lake, "If we follow the short of the exit, then we can avoid the central plaza entirely." _And Shigaraki_, he added to himself.

"Good idea," Asui said, "That way we don't run into the villains Mr. Aizawa is facing off with there.

Izuku's mood darkened as he thought about that more. _Yeah, but can he handle them on his own? How long can he hold out against a big group like that?_

"If he doesn't get some backup, then he's just going to over exert himself. He'll ended defeated by those villains because he was trying to keep us safe."

Both Asui and Mineta looked at him in surprise, but Mineta's quickly turned to worry. "Wait, don't tell you're suggesting..." His worry quickly turned to anger. "Are you trying to get us killed or something?!"

Izuku turned to look at them, "I'm not saying that we should just jump into the middle of a battle, but maybe we can figure out a way to take a few of those guys out and lighten his load."

Asui seemed to think about it before answering, "What if we scope the situation out first? We should at least see what we'd be up against before deciding if we should interfere."

He was surprised. Why hadn't he thought of that? "That's a good idea. That way we can see how Mr. Aizawa is fairing without putting ourselves in danger." He smiled at her, "You really clever, Tsu."

She blushed a little, "Ribbit, thank you."

Izuku nodded at her before turning back to the central plaza, "Let's go."

They edged closer to the edge of the lake, which connected with the central plaza. Rye fighting was going on not too far from the end of the lake, so they made sure to be as quiet as possible as they snuck closer. It seemed to work, as none of the villains attacked them or noticed their presence.

Mr. Aizawa seemed to be holding his own, but Izuku could see the signs of exhaustion weighting down on him. His teacher wouldn't last much longer at this rate. Though the number of villains seemed to be decreasing by the minute. Maybe Mr. Aizawa didn't need their help after all.

Reaching the edge of the lake, Mineta took the chance to remind him of why they were there, as if he needed reminding. "Remember, Midoriya, we're just here to see how things are going, alright?"

Midoriya nodded as he climbed up the ridge to see better, "Yeah, I know. We'll get out of here the second it seems dangerous." He didn't want anyone to get hurt. they watched from their relatively safe position as Mr. Aizawa fought the villains. Their teacher flipped through the air gracefully, even though he was clearly tired. His hair constantly flipped from raised, to normal, to raised again. It was almost comedic, how his hair acted almost on its own free will. Izuku wondered if it had something to do with his quirk.

He was currently resting on the unconscious body of one of the villains. Izuku worried for his well being. His teacher seemed to be having trouble.

Something moving in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to look at it. To his horror, he saw Shigaraki running full speed towards where Mr. Aizawa is sitting. Er, well, _was_ sitting. The black blur that was none other than Mr. Aizawa was running to meet Shigaraki. Izuku nearly revealed himself in his panic. Luckily Asui noticed and pulled him back before he could give away their position.

He watched helplessly as his home room teacher sent his scarf to attack mid-run. It did nothing as Shigaraki grabbed it before it could restrain him, and Mr. Aizawa was in a precarious situation with his elbow in Shigaraki's grasp. Izuku knew they only reason it wasn't crumbling was because of his teacher's quirk. His previously raised hair settled back onto his shoulders. Shigaraki was saying something.

"It was hard to see when you were jumping around, but I found your tell. It's your hair." Mr. Aizawa was clearly surprised, along with the trio in the water. "When it falls it means you've stopped using your quirk." Damn, when did Shigaraki get so good at observation? That's supposed to be Izuku's thing.

"You're having to blink more often." Shigaraki continued. The shoulder Mr. Aizawa had trapped in Shigaraki's hand started to crack and crumble away. "Don't push yourself too hard now, you might just fall apart." The skin fell away, "Wouldn't that be a shame."

Mr. Aizawa finally pushed away from Shigaraki, though his shoulder was now badly damaged. Izuku could see the muscle of his elbow.

The other villains took the chance to converge on him again, and Mr. Aizawa was soon fighting the minor villains again. Only this time, he was an arm down.

"That annoying quirk of yours isn't suited for drawn out fights against big groups, is it?" Shigaraki said from his position on the ground. "Don't you think your a little out of your element here, Eraserhead? You're much better at working stealthily. You're known for surprise attacks, not fighting head-to-head."

His head turned to the side as if listening for something, "But despite knowing that, you didn't hesitate to jump into the middle of this fight; to put your students at ease."

The villains rushed at Mr. Aizawa once more, and yet again, he somehow managed to knock them all down and still be able to turn at face Shigaraki.

Shigaraki was on his feet now, and he raised his hands to his sides in almost a shrugging gesture. "And look at you, you're still standing. You really are so cool!" He leaned forwards, "Oh, and by the way hero," Mr, Aizawa turned around to see the Nomu behind him, "I am not the final boss."

It happened all of a sudden. Mr. Aizawa has been standing there, but now...

Now Izuku wondered if he was even still alive. Maybe it would be better if he wasn't. The amount of pain...

Izuku almost puked at the sight, and he could tell his fellow classmates weren't fairing much better.

The Nomu had Mr. Aizawa pinned to the floor, one hand twisting his now broken arm back and the other crushing his teacher's back.

He almost didn't hear when Shigaraki started talking again, "What do you think of him, Eraserhead? Hmm?" His eyes squinted as if he was smiling, "He's the bioengineered anti-Symbol of Peace. But you can call him Nomu." The Nomu let out an ear shattering screech.

Mr. Aizawa wasn't unconscious, no matter how much he must have wanted to be. Izuku knew this because he cried out when the Nomu twisted his mangled arm even more.

"So you can erase people's quirks," Izuku wished Shigaraki would just shut up for once, "That's irritating, but nothing impressive. When faced with true devastating power, you might as well be a quirkless child." He started to laugh at that.

Mr. Aizawa tried to turn around and erase the Nomu's quirk, but it stopped him by stomping down and crushing his other arm.

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of his teacher's agonizing scream. But he soon forced himself to look again. No matter how much he wanted to look away and ignore what was happening, his teacher deserved better.

The Nomu grabbed Mr. Aizawa's head and lifted it up. Izuku got to see his contorted face clear as day before the Nomu slammed it back down, creating a small crater. Mr. Aizawa didn't move again.

Izuku felt tears fill his eyes and his lungs struggled to bring in air. He wanted nothing more than to run to his teacher and protect him, but he couldn't move. His legs wouldn't listen to him and his entire body was paralyzed from fear. He could do absolutely nothing and he _hated_ it.

"No, no." He faintly registered that Mineta was talking. "I c-can't watch this anymore. We should be getting out of here super fast, shouldn't we?" He whisper-yelled. Izuku was still staring forward, only able to focus on the deathly still figure of their teacher.

Asui only responded with a remorseful, "Ribbit."

A black mist formed next to Shigaraki and it took a moment for Izuku to realize that it was Kurogiri.

"Tomura Shigaraki." He said.

"Kurogiri." Shigaraki said in return.

Izuku found it strange that they were addressing each other in such a way. Was it to keep up appearances?

"Did you manage to kill 13?"

"The rescue hero is out of commission," Oh, Izuku did not like the sound of that. "But there were students I was unable to disperse and one of them got outside of the facility." Hope soared like a rocket through his body. One of them had made it out!

Shigaraki was obviously not happy to hear that. He started doing that thing where he started scratching at his neck furiously. It usually ended with his neck bleeding heavily and a very upset Sensei and Kurogiri.

He started shaking and making angry noises. "Kurogiri," Izuku felt a shiver run up his spine, "you fool. If you weren't our warp gate, I'd tear apart every last Adam in your body."

Suddenly he stopped, "There's no way we can win if dozens of heroes show up to stop us. It's game over- back to the title screen." His shoulders slumped forward, "And I was looking forward to finishing this today, damn it." He looked towards Kurogiri, "Let's go home."

Mineta gasped, "Huh? Did I hear that right? Are they really going to just leave?"

"That's what it sounded like to me." Asui said.

Mineta started crying in relief and 'hugged' Asui. "Yes! This is amazing! Now we don't have to fight!"

"U-uh, yeah. But..."

There was a splashing sound and Izuku glanced over to see Asui casually drowning Mineta. He didn't stop her.

"I have a real bad feeling about this Midoriya." She said, still holding Mineta's head under the water.

Izuku turned back to where Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and the Nomu still were. "Yeah, it's weird that they'd just retreat at this point, even if help is on the way."

_All Might's probably coming._ They definitely want to kill him, and Yuuei was definitely going to beef up their security after this. Now's their best chance. After all this time, why was Shigaraki choosing for this to be game over? Ugh, Izuku really wanted to know what was going on inside Shigaraki's head right now.

"Oh," Izuku's attention snapped back into Shigaraki, "before we leave, let's make sure the Symbol of Peace is broken." He looked Izuku directly in the eye. "Let's wreck his pride."

Before he could even blink, Shigaraki was in front of him, hand inches away from touching his face.

Izuku was completely frozen, paralyzed from the hand that he knew all too well. He knew exactly what was going to happen when that hand connected.

He was going to die by Shigaraki's hand. Literally.

And he had no way of stopping him.


	18. Chapter 18

Shigaraki stopped.

That's right, he _stopped._

The relief he felt at that moment was indescribable. The fact he actually had a moment to process what was about to happen gave him immense relief.

It also gave him and his classmates a moment to react.

But during that moment, all Izuku could do was watch as Shigaraki pulled back slightly and looked over his shoulder. "You really are so cool, Eraserhead."

Izuku caught a glimpse of what was happening behind Shigaraki. Mr. Aizawa was looking at Shigaraki, with his hair raised.

The Nomu obviously didn't like this, and next thing he knew, Mr, Aizawa's face was being slammed into the concrete once again.

This got Izuku to move and he moved backwards, away from the hand that was still much too close to his face for him to feel comfortable. Shigaraki turned back to him now that Mr. Aizawa was out of the way, and saw Izuku moving away.

His head tilted sideways. "Aw, what's wrong Izu? Afraid to get hurt?" He said with way too much glee.

Izuku barely noticed the use of Shigaraki's nickname for him, too focused on trying to not die. It was very difficult. Especially when he was in water and practically collapsing for exhaustion.

He leaned closer and whispered so that only Izuku could hear, "You should be more afraid for your classmates. We can't have witnesses, now can we?"

Fear froze his movements and his mind blanked. He barely comprehended how Shigaraki's arm was now moving towards his face again, or how Asui was trying to wrap her tongue around his waist to pull him away from his demise.

The hand stopped once again, but this time, it was Kurogiri who stopped him. The warp gate placed his hand on Shigaraki's shoulder, which he did not like, to stop him from reaching Izuku. "Shigaraki, you-"

Whatever Kurogiri was about to say was forgotten as an explosion rocked the ground. They all turned to see the entrance completely destroyed. Dust and smoke partially concealed who caused it, but they all recognized the huge figure emerging.

All Might has arrived.

The smoke cleared and Izuku noticed something: All Might wasn't smiling. It was more a grimace than anything else.

"Have no fear students." He faintly heard him say. "I am here."

Mineta burst into tears for the umpteenth time, "We're saved!"

"Ribbit." Asui said around her tongue, which was now holding Izuku around the waist. During the distraction, she had pulled him out of Shigaraki's reach.

Izuku's expression contorted into one of horror. "He's here," he said shakily, "All Might."

_No._

All Might took no heed of the precarious situation they were in at the moment, and just tossed his yellow and black striped jacket to the side.

"Ah," Shigaraki said, ignoring Izuku, "Looks like our game is getting a continue."

...The gaming references were starting to creep him out. Then again, it was Shigaraki they were talking about, so it should really be expected at this point.

Izuku took notice of how some of the recruited villains got cold feet. They started talking to each other as they stared at the Symbol of Peace.

"Holy crap, it's All Might. I've never seen the guy in person before," one of them said.

"I didn't expect him to be so huge."

One of the villains scoffed, "This is no time to talk, you idiots!" He turned to look at them, "If we strike now, we can kill hi-" He was sent flying backwards.

The reason soon became apparent when Izuku saw All Might pop up out of thin air holding Mr. Aizawa. The injured teacher lay cradled in All Might's arms, barely even breathing.

All the other villains were now scattered across the plaza, and none of them seemed to be getting back up anytime soon.

All Might turned to them, and Izuku barely had a moment to see his eyes flash blue before he was being carried away. The wind whipped past them as they gained distance between the three remaining villains. It seemed even Shigaraki hadn't been prepared for All Might's attack, as he was currently bent over with his arms wrapped around his stomach.

The hand that was supposed to be on his face was now laying on the ground.

Izuku suddenly felt ground underneath his feet, and looked around to see All Might crouched next to Mr. Aizawa's unconscious body.

"Wh-what the heck?" He heard Mineta say. He felt like that was an accurate description for what just happened. Izuku has been about to get murdered when all of a sudden he was being carried away by the greatest hero of all time.

"Everybody back to the entrance," All Might said, "and take Aizawa with you. He doesn't have much time." With that, he stood back up to leave them.

His classmates quickly responded with a "Yes sir!" and "Ribbit." But Izuku just stared at All Might. Izuku knew more about these people and the Nomu than anyone else. He may be working for the bad guys, no how much he wished he wasn't, but he by no means wanted the Symbol of Peace to die. Unlike the people standing in front of them.

He had to do something. To _say_ something. It's the least he can do.

"You saved us All Might." That's what he said first. The disbelief must be prominent to the hero. It's not like he was trying to hide it.

The other two classmates of his were working on picking their injured teacher up, and Izuku moved to help them. He didn't want to just do nothing to help his teacher when he was partially responsible. Sliding his arms and head into his shoulders, Izuku paused to look up to where All Might was still standing.

Izuku took a deep breath, "All Might, you can't! That No-" he caught himself, "That brain villain was sent here to kill you. It probably has some way to defeat you. It's too strong-!"

"Young Midoriya!" All Might three out a hand and at him, "I got this." He made a peace sign.

...Really? A peace sign?

Well, no, that actually kind of made sense. He was the Symbol of _Peace_, after all.

Izuku pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked back down to Mr. Aizawa's limo doby. Mr. Aizawa needed medical attention, and soon. Otherwise...

He didn't think about the otherwise. It wasn't going to happen. He would make sure of that. But in order to do that, he would have to leave All Might to face the villains alone.

Izuku made up his mind, and turned his head back to All Might. He gave him a quick nod, and then turned with Asui and Mineta to start walking back to the entrance.

Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw All Might cross his arms in front of him. "Carolina SMASH!"

Shot forward like a bullet, and the explosion that followed was by no means small.

It was at that time that Izuku nearly tripped on a rock, and barely avoided sending them all tumbling to the ground. He turned his attention back forward and just prayed that All Might would find some way to defeat them. Who knows, maybe if Shigaraki and Kurogiri were apprehended, Izuku could finally escape the League of Villains.

But that was a long shot. He had heard of the Nomu. It has been a long process, but apparently Sensei found a way to push multiple quirks into other people. This was of course was accomplished with the help of the Doctor.

The Doctor was Sensei's own mad scientist. Izuku had never actually met him, but he was okay with that. From what he had heard from the few recruits that were forced to meet him, it was not a pleasant experience.

"Hey, Midoriya." Izuku suddenly remembered that other people were present.

He looked at Asui, "Yeah?"

She was frowning. "How do you know that hand guy?"

Izuku's blood ran cold. "What?"

"That hand villain." She said. Her gaze turned from curious to distrust at his response. "He called you 'Izu'."

_Oh shit_. He did, didn't he?

He racked his brain for an explanation. "I-I, uh, ran into him once! Yeah!" He said.

_Like that's going to convince her,_ he thought.

She just looked more suspicious, which was totally understandable considering his answer. "But why call you Izu? Ribbit."

He... didn't have an answer for that. Other than telling the truth, there was nothing believable that he could say. And he couldn't do that, or else they would know.

But what if they didn't?

Izuku paused at that thought. During this whole ordeal, he had been panicking and freaking out, which is to be expected. Nobody would question it if his heart rate increased in the middle of an attack.

Now was his chance to tell someone. But should he risk it? Who knows what they would do with the information, and they weren't even among his most trusted group of people.

"Midoriya," he flinched at her tone, "I can tell something is going on." His gaze lowered, "But I can also tell that you're a good person. Whatever it is that's happening, you can tell us."

Izuku hesitated. He opened his mouth to respond, "I-"

BOOM!

All three of of them turned around as fast as they could. The ground was still trembling, but they ignored it in favor of seeing what caused it.

The smoke made it impossible to see what was going on, so they were left to come up with their own conclusions. None of this was helping calm Asui and Mineta, and he could see they were clinging on to what hope they still had. Izuku wasn't fairing much better himself, considering the circumstances.

Asui turned back to him while they were waiting for the smoke to clear. It was obvious she wanted an answer to her question. "Well?"

He looked away, he couldn't tell her while looking her in the eye that he had deceived all of them this entire time. "I... I've been working undercover for the League of Villains. I know that sounds bad," he added once he saw their expressions, "but I didn't have any other choice. They-"

"Guys look!"

Asui and Izuku were both pulled out of the intense confession. He was both annoyed and relieved by Mineta's interruption.

Mineta was pointing to the area which had been full of smoke just a couple of minutes before. It was now mostly clear, and Izuku was free to taking in the bone chilling sight of All Might.

He was in a suplex, obviously meant to bury the Nomu into the concrete so that it couldn't move. But Kurogiri had opened up a warp gate where the Nomu was supposed to land, causing All Might to be stuck underneath the Nomu while it's head popped up near his side.

The Nomu reaches up and grabbed into All Might's side. It bleed heavily, which surprised Izuku. He hadn't known that All Might could be so vulnerable.

Nonetheless, Izuku felt an erge enter his bones, one that wouldn't leave no matter how hard he shook himself. He just couldn't leave All Might like that. Not when it was his fault.

He turned to Asui and Mineta, "Dk you think you can carry Mr. Aizawa the rest of the way?"

Asui looked surprised, "Y-yeah, but what about you?"

Izuku looked back at the fight, "I'm going to help All Might."


	19. Chapter 19

He turned to run away, but he didn't get far before he found himself suddenly suspended in midair. Surprised, he glanced down to see Asui's tongue whipped around his waist.

Turning around as best he could, Izuku looked Asui right in the eye, "Asui, please. I need to help All Might. He doesn't know what he's up against."

She spoke surprisingly well for having her tongue sticking out of her mouth, "Why do you want to help All Might? Ribbit."

Izuku blinked. Well, wasn't it obvious? "I can't allow another person to get hurt because of me."

Asui frowned but then nodded. Izuku felt the ground under his feet again as she set him back down. He have her a small smile and then turned around before he saw her response.

The ground was littered with unconscious villains as he entered the plaza, and he quickly dodged and jumped over their bodies. There was no time to waste.

By this point All Might had let go of the Nomu and was now being held up by the thing. Kurogiri still had the warp gate open, but Izuku knew that only spelt bad news. Kurogiri hates it when blood got into his warp gates, and right now, All Might wasn't exactly keeping his blood to himself.

He stumbled over someone's arm, but he got right back up and continued running. His blood was pounding in his ears and tears slipped past his eyes. The fear he was feeling for the number 1 hero was practically palpable.

"All Might!" He cried out to get his attention. It seemed to work as his face turned towards his direction. He mouth moved like he was saying something, but Izuku was too far away to hear him.

Kurogiri blocked him, "What are you d-?"

He was cut by an explosion to his side. The explosion blinded Izuku momentarily and the force from the proximity caused him to stumble back a bit, but he managed to hear someone say, "Get the hell out of my way you stupid nerd!"

Once he was able to see again, Izuku looked up to see Kurogiri pinned down by none other than Katsuki Bakugou.

The temperature dropped slightly and he looked over to see ice cover one side of the Nomu. Izuku noticed Todoroki standing the side, ice covering half of his body. "One of your thugs told me you're here because you think you can kill All Might." He wondered how Todoroki got that information.

With the Nomu being unable to move, All Might broke free from its grasp and leaped to safety. He flinched as he landed, and Izuku could see red on his side before his hand covered it up. Izuku instantly turned his attention back to him as relief flooded his body. "Are you okay?"

All Might didn't respond and instead seemed to be watching as Kirishima came out of no where and attacked Shigaraki. Or, he tried to, at least. Shigaraki jumped back at the last second, dodging the attack and forcing Kirishima to jump away as well.

He grunted in frustration as he landed back with them, "Damn, that was gonna be cool!"

Bakugou spoke up from where he was pressing his hand onto Kurogiri's neck brace. "Looks like I found your body that time, you smokey bastard!" Izuku blinked. It seemed Bakugou was just full of surprises, wasn't he?

Todoroki decided to join in on the conversation once again, "The Symbol of Peace will not be defeated by delinquents like you."

Izuku sweat dropped, _why was everyone talking so much?!_

Once they all decided to quiet down, Izuku took stalk of the situation. Bakugou has Kurogiri immobile for the moment, though he wasn't sure how long that would last. All Might was currently injured, and in what looked to be a weak spot as well, so that wasn't good. Kirishima and Todoroki were relatively out of range and therefore relatively safe, but he knew that could change in the blink of an eye. And he was behind All Might, hiding like a coward. All Might was injured and yet he was still protecting him. And didn't even _know_. It made Izuku sick to his stomach.

Shigaraki broke the tense silence. "Kurogiri, how could you let this brat get the best of you? You've gotten us into a real jam here."

Bakugou just scoffed and looked down on Kurogiri with a crazed grin on his face, "You got careless, you dumb villains. It wasn't hard to figure you out. Only certain parts of you turn into that smoking warp gate. You use that mist to hid your actual body as a kind of distraction, thinking that made you safe." The blonde leaned closer to the warp gate, "That's why we missed."

Izuku should really be writing this down. It's too bad that he left his notebook back in the classroom. Then again, he didn't think Kurogiri would be too pleased to learn that Izuku took notes on him without his permission.

"But if you didn't have a body," Bakugou continued, "then you wouldn't need to wear this neck amour, right? You're not immune to physical attacks so long as they're well aimed."

Seriously, how did Izuku never figure any of this out?! He lived with the guy, and yet Bakugou was able to figure all this out by just attacking him once. And Izuku was supposed to be the one with good observation skills!

Kurogiri shifted from under Bakugou's hand, but instantly stopped as explosions burst against the metal neck brace.

Bakugou's grin somehow got even creepier and insane-looking as he leaned right down next to Kurogiri's face. "Don't move," he said menacingly, "try anything funny and I'll blow you up so bad they'll be piecing you back together for _weeks_."

Kirishima grinned from where he was standing behind Bakugou, "Oh, that doesn't sound very heroic."

Izuku looked back to Shigaraki who was now muttering to himself. Kind of ironic, if you ask him. Shigaraki used to get so mad when Izuku muttered in front of him. Looks like the tables have turned.

He could barely make out why he was saying to himself. "They escaped uninjured and captured two of my strongest men. Kids these days really are amazing."

Izuku couldn't help the pride that swelled in his chest for his classmates. It was rare for Shigaraki to give compliments.

"They make the League of Villains look like amateurs. Can't have that." Oh there we go, Izuku was worried there for a second. It was getting kind of weird to hear such things from Shigaraki.

He turned to the half frozen and half warped Nomu sticking out of the ground. "Nomu," was all he had to say for the thing to started retracting itself back out of the warp.

Everyone took a step back, cautious about the strange creature.

It emerged from the portal successfully, but its arm and leg broke off as it stood up. A screech echoed through the building as it stumbled to its remaining hand and knee. The rest of the ice broke off of its body, tearing the purple flesh off with it. Izuku looked away, feeling sick. The Nomu may be a mindless monster, but it still must feeling pain. And if nothing else, that looked _very_ painful.

He heard what sounded like body parts being stretched out and he suddenly got an idea of what one of its quirks was. Regeneration.

He knew the Nomu had multiple quirks, and he could guess from how it didn't seem affected by All Night's hits that one could be shock absorption. That by itself was bad news for All Might. But when coupled with _regeneration-_

All of this pointed to their accusations being true, that they really did have a way to kill All Might.

The fear Izuku felt at that moment was overwhelming, which wasn't too surprising, considering all that he'd been through already. But he hadn't even felt this amount of fear when he was about to be murdered by Shigaraki. Then, he had at least been reassured that some good would come out of his death, that Yuuei would no longer have a spy among their midst.

But there would be nothing good from All Might's death, not even for him. As soon as the League didn't need him anymore, they would get rid of him. Whether that meant killed him theirselves or dumping him somewhere to fend for himself, both of them end in certain death. And believe it or not, his usefulness runs out when All Might dies.

But Izuku has made peace with this fact, he has for a long time now. Ever since that day in the street, actually. He may not have realized it at the time, but that is when he decided he didn't matter in the long run. That he would follow the League of Villains, not for his sake, but for the sake of all the innocent people that could get hurt.

So yes, he was afraid, but he'd be damned if he let that keep him from making sure that the Symbol of Peace kept standing, kept shining for all the people who needed it. For all the people like Izuku.

With that in mind, Izuku balled his hands into fists and looked up.

The arm and leg that had been previously missing were now almost completely returned, only the fingers missing the purple skin the Nomu sported. It quickly healed over though, and the Nomu stood before them as if its limbs hadn't just snapped off like icicles just a minute ago.

Izuku resized that Shigaraki was talking, and from the sounds of it, had been for a little while now. His ears burned in embarrassment as he tuned into the end of the conversation, "Nomu had been modified to take you on even at 100 percent of your power. He's basically a highly efficient punching bag that fights back."

Izuku raised his fists, ready to fight, even though he wasn't the best at physical combat.

"First, we need to free our method of escape." That actually got Bakugou to look up. "Go get 'im Nomu."

In less than a blink of an eye the Nomu was gone. None of them even had time to prepare before the shock wave from the impact blew all them off their feet. Pain wracked his body. "Ah, such force."

He quickly remembered who the target had been though, and he flew into his feet. If his classmate was hurt...

Bakugou was nowhere to be seen, so Izuku resorted to the next best thing: shouting.

"Bakugou!"

He heard a noise behind him and quickly spun around, "Bakugou?"

The wide eyed look in Bakugou's face was quickly replaced with his usual scowl.

"Woah, you dodged him?!" Izuku could hardly believe it.

For some reason, Bakugou glared at him, "Shut up, no I didn't, you damn nerd." Well, at the very least, it seems like he's well enough to call them names.

Izuku relaxed slightly, but then tensed again as he realized something.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Kirishima beat him to it, "Then how'd you get over here?"

Todoroki gasped and turned towards the second column of smoke. "Isn't it obvious?"

The smoke cleared and they all got a clear view of All Might standing with his arms locked in a blocking position. He saw All Might cough.

All Might looked up, "These are kids and you didn't hold back?" He sounded angry.

Shigaraki took a step forward, "I did have much a choice, he was threatening my companion. Besides, your kids aren't exactly angels. You saw how that duel haired kid froze Nomu's limbs to the point of snapping off. What kind of hero does something like that?" Izuku glanced at Todoroki but he didn't seem affected from being put into the spotlight.

"You think you can get away with as much violence as you want if you say it's for the sake of others." Izuku was confused. Where was all of this coming from? It certainly had never been brought up before, and Shigaraki never tried to hid his feeling towards heroes. "Well you know what All Might? That pisses me off. Why do people get to decide that some violent acts are heroic while others are villainous? Casting judgement to what's good and what's evil." His arms raised and he leaned forward slightly, "You think you're the Symbol of Peace? Haha! You're just another government sponsored instrument of violence. And violence always breeds more violence. I'll make sure the world understands that once you're dead."

Okay, Izuku was getting tired of this speech. It was long and Shigaraki was obviously bullshitting the entire thing, so he wasn't really feeling the impact the speech was surely supposed to bring.

"You're nothing but a lunatic." Thank you, All Might! "Villains like you always try to make your actions sound noble, but admit it, you're only doing this because you like it!"

Oh Izuku could just see it from here. Shigaraki totally agreed with everything All Might just said.

Todoroki stepped forward, "We've got them outnumbered."

Izuku hesitated, but then went along with it, "And Bakugou for Ku- the mist guts weakness." Dang it! He almost slipped up again.

Kirishima stepped up as well, "These guys may act tough, but we can take them down now with All Might's help." He hardened his arms, "Let's do this."

"Don't attack!" They were all surprised when they heard All Might say that. He was walking in front of them now._ When did he get all the way back here?_

Todoroki didn't look convinced, "You would've been in trouble earlier if it had f been for me, remember? You need our help."

"I thank you for your assistance, but this is different." Izuku looked at All Might in surprise. His muscular arm swung towards them while he continued to face the villains, "It's going to be alright. Just sit back and watch a pro at work!"

Izuku still had his concerns, so he voiced them, "But you're hurt, and you're bleeding. Plus you'd be completely outnumbered!"

He blinked when All Might gave him a thumbs up. It confused him slightly, but then he realized what it meant.

'Trust me.' That's what it meant. So Izuku has no choice but to do just that. Trust him.

It was still a relatively new concept to Izuku, so he wasn't completely sure most of the time, but this was different. This time, Izuku was sure.

So he shut his mouth, and listened.

"Nomu, Kurogiri, kill him. I'll deal with the children." Shigaraki said. "Let's clear this level and go home."

Shigaraki shot forward, and Izuku saw All Might stand straighter, as if preparing himself for the fight.

Kirishima settled into a defensive position and the rest of them followed suit. "Heads up, looks like we're fighting after all."

All Might leapt forward and met the Nomu halfway, sending a shockwave that sent even Shigaraki flying back. He landed pretty gracefully though.

"Weren't you listening? One of his powers is shock absorption." So Izuku was right after all.

"Yeah?" All Might said, "What about it?"

He punched the Nomu again, and again, and again, each one landing faster until the punches were just one big blur. The wind created by the blows was so great that it pushed all of them back. Only once he dug his feet and hands into the concrete was he able to stop.

"He's gonna fight that brain guy head on?" Izuku managed to say.

"Woah!" Kirishima yelled, "He's fast!"

All Might began talking to the Nomu while fighting it, "He said your quirk was only shock absorption, not nullification." The ground broke beneath them. "That means there's a limit of what you can take, right?"

The Nomu landed a hit, but that just seemed to make All Might even stronger. They landed like a bomb into the forest area.

"So you were made to fight me, big guy," All Might was distant now, but his voice still rang clear through all of the destruction, "If you can really withstand me while at one hundred percent of my power, then I'll have to go beyond that and force you to surrender!" Maybe it was just him, but Izuku swore that All Might's punches somehow got even _faster. _If that was even possible.

Izuku was in awe at the sight. He was giving it his all, even when he was injured. And they weren't just random punches either. They're targeted, and every single one of them was more than one hundred percent of his power!

All Might was really giving it to the Nomu now. "A real hero," he threw it into the air before kicking it back into the ground, "will always find a way for justice to be served!"

The Nomu landed and broke the concrete into a million pieces. All Might landed right next to him.

"Now for lesson," Izuku hung on to every word, "You May have heard these words before, but I'll teach you what they really mean! Go beyond," he made a fist that seemed to glow brighter than the sun, "PLUS," he pulled it back, "ULTRA!" He slammed his fist into the Nomu.

It sounded like bullet going off. The Nomu's body seemed to implode as the entire building shook from the shockwave. It was sent flying into the air, tearing clean through the dome roof, and disappearing into the outside world.

"That was like the finishing move to a video game." Kirishima said, "He beat the shock absorption right out of him! I've never seen that kind of brute strength."

Even Bakugou seemed in awe, "Imagine having power like that. He must have been punching that monster so fast he couldn't regenerate."

Izuku looked away from them and to the smoking pillar that was All Might. "I really have gotten weaker," wait, what? "Back in my hay day, five hits would have been enough to knock that guy out." All Might straightened his posture and made a fist, "But today it took more than three hundred mighty blows!"

Three hundred?!

Izuku's mind was blown by that number. How could All Might have punches that guy three hundred times in under a minute?! It was surely impossible!

He lowered his fist and turned towards Shigaraki. Was it just him, or was All Might smoking? "You've been bested, villains." Shigaraki was shaking violently now. Uh oh, that was never good.

Izuku braced himself, whenever Shigaraki was like this, he became unpredictable and unstable. Who knows what he could do now?

"Surrender! We all want to get this over with quickly."

Shigaraki didn't listen to him, instead bring his hand up to his neck again. He muttered something, but it was too low for Izuku to hear.

"What's wrong? Not attack me?"_ All Might, what are you doing?! You shouldn't be provoking the enemy! _"Didn't you say you were going to clear this level earlier? Well come and get me. If you dare."

No, this isn't right. Something is wrong.

Izuku stealthily snuck his hand into his back pocket. If he was wrong, then nothing would happen. But if he was right, then he could potentially save his teachers life.

It may not seem like it to the other students, but Izuku knew Shigaraki wasn't one to be trifled with. He can and will rise up to that challenge, he just knows it.

Shigaraki stumbled backwards in shock.

"Man, this is, intense." That's interesting. Was the tension finally getting to Bakugou?

"As I expected," Todoroki said, "there's no reason for us to fight now. He'll handle this."

But will he?

"What, are you scared?" Geez, All Might. Calm down!

Shigaraki was getting irritated, anyone could tell by the way he was scratching at his neck. "If only Nomu were here. He'd rush you right now, pound you into the ground without giving it a second thought!"

Kurogiri leaned towards him and said something only Shigaraki could hear. Shigaraki seemed to calm down, and that only worried Izuku even more.

Izuku paid no attention to the villains that were getting up from off the ground, or on his classmates who turned to face off with them. All of his focus was on the two people in front of of him.

Shigaraki suddenly charged All Might, Kurogiri following not too far behind. Izuku saw this and instantly put his plan into action.

His hand shit out of his pocket and he threw the object in his hand at Kurogiri as hard as he could. It shot through the air like a bullet, transforming and morphing as it went along.

Two wings emerged from the object, followed by a head, tail, and by the time it reached the villains a full grown dragon had emerged from the object. It knew what to do, Izuku had already given it instructions went he first put his hand in his pocket.

The red dragon lunged at Kurogiri's neck brace, flames pouring from the very essence of the creature. It almost made it when Izuku noticed a hand emerge from the purple mist. Izuku would know that hand from anywhere.

He desperately reached out pulled back on the mental connection between himself and the dragon. So much of his energy had gone into making the dragon and he could already feel his skin cracking from his impossibly dry skin, but momentum had already taken control. There was no stopping it now.

The hand was about to connect with the origami dragon when something tore through the hand. Blood splattered into the dragon, but at least now it wasn't about to be faced with total annihilation.

It stopped just short of Kurogiri and it pulled back, looking back at Izuku in confusion. Izuku himself was confused.

Shots rang out and Izuku looked towards the entrance where it seemed they were coming from.

"Sorry everyone!" A high pitched male voice said somewhere from the entrance. "I know we're a bit late, but I got the teachers over here as fast as I could."

Izuku nearly melted in relief. Finally! It's about time that teachers showed up!

For a moment he thought he hear Iida, but it must have just been his imagination.

The villains that had just recovered turned their attention to the newly arrived reinforcements, attacking without a second thought.

"Aw man, the pros are here." Izuku looked back at Shigaraki. He was backing up into Kurogiri, his fighting spirit all but gone. "It's game over for real." He turned to look at Kurogiri, "Let's go home and try this agai-"

He was cut off as bullets tore through his arms and legs, making him fall to the ground and Kurogiri protected him. Kurogiri started to warp Shigaraki, but they were suddenly being pulled away by a powerful force. Izuku looked up to see 13 standing on the steps, using her quirk to suck Kurogiri in.

Shigaraki didn't seem to notice this was happening though, as he kept talking to All Might. "I may have failed to kill you this time, but your days are numbered!" The warp started to close on him. "All Might, Symbol of Peace, I am going to kill you!"

And with that, they were both gone, vanished into thin air.


	20. Chapter 20

The ground rushed up to meet him as his knees gave out on him. His arms caught him, but the pain from that action nearly made him completely fall to the ground anyway.

Skin around his joints were bleeding with cracks, making every movement a painful one. Flaking, peeling skin covered the rest of his body. His chapped lips were filling his mouth with the metallic tang of blood.

Spitting out the blood, Izuku tried to look up. He caught sight of his classmates standing around him and All Might standing in the distance before the pain in his neck forced him to look down again.

Trying to stand was a bad idea, as he soon learned. It was possible, he concluded after failing. Just very painful and time consuming.

Something bright red flashed near his hand and he nearly helped when he felt it land. It was the way that it acted that calmed him enough to realize what it was.

It was the dragon.

That surprised him. He was sure that it had dissipated once the villains had disappeared and it no longer had anything to do. But it turns out that he was wrong, the dragon did have something it needed to do.

It looked up at him in concern and he smiled despite the pain. He couldn't help it, it was just so cute looking! The fact that it had to be no bigger than a mouse just contributed to the cuteness.

He shifted his weight so that he could raise the dragon near his mouth. His whispered instructions were gibberish to anyone other than the dragon, which understood exactly what was said. It gave him one last look as he put his hand back down, as if to say 'are you sure?', but he just nodded. Of course he was sure.

It nodded back and then it was gone, just like the villains it had just been fighting.

He groaned, momentarily surprised to hear his own voice, and tried to get back up onto his feet. This time he actually got his feet against the ground before he started to slip back down. His arms strained to keep him up, and he nearly gave up when he felt an arm stop his fall.

Surprised, Izuku glanced up to see Todoroki next to him, arm wrapped around his chest to support him. He actually looked somewhat concerned, which confused Izuku. He hadn't known Todoroki for long, but he had a feeling that he didn't express such emotions often, if at all.

"Are you okay, Midoriya?" He said.

Izuku blinked as he tried to come up with a response. His mind was muddled with exhaustion and pain was constantly pricking at his skin, but he'd been through worse. He nodded, "Y-Yeah, I'm okay." His eyes widened as he realized something, "H-how is everyone else? Are they okay?"

Todoroki nodded, "Everyone else is fine. You're the only one hurt." He frowned, "Why are you hurt? If you don't mind me asking."

Izuku chuckled, "Don't worry, it's just an effect of overusing my quirk. It's not as bad as it looks." He paused, "By the way, can help me stand up?"

His classmate complied but didn't look convinced. The pain of moving didn't seem as bad now, he realized. His skin must have torn open to the point where it couldn't go any further. _That's at least one good thing_, he thought. Too bad that he knew Todoroki wouldn't agree.

He carefully pushed away from Todoroki and he reluctantly let him. His legs were tired, but they held his weight once he found his balance. It was just his skin that was injured, so it shouldn't impede with walking too much.

He looked back up and focused on All Might. The Number 1 hero was still standing in the same position as when the villains charged at him. It looked like he hadn't moved a single muscle since then. Izuku frowned and took a step forward. His ankles flared up but it soon went back down. He took another step forward and another until he was walking somewhat steadily towards the hero.

Todoroki was hovering close to him and he thought he could hear Kirishima coming over as well. Bakugou didn't seem to care. Either that or he was just being extremely quiet to let them talk. But Izuku doubted that.

They were a few meters away when a concrete wall suddenly rose from the ground. Izuku nearly fell backwards in surprise but Todoroki caught him before he could fall very fall. He gave Todoroki a grateful smile and got back onto his feet with his help.

Kirishima appeared by his side but Izuku turned to where Cementoss was getting up from where he had previously had his hand pressed to the ground. Cementoss looked at Izuku and shook his head. "Leave All Might to us. You should get yourself looked at in the meantime, Midoriya."

Izuku tried to protest, but Kirishima turned him around before he could say anything. Kirishima immediately started asking him questions, "Are you alright dude? What happened? Did the villains do this? You look horrible."

Izuku's face scrunched up at the questions, but he tried to answer nonetheless. "I-" he turned his head and spat out the blood that had gathered on his tongue. He started again, "I'm fine. It honestly looks worse than it is. Some water and good nights rest should take care of it."

Disbelief crossed Kirishima's face. "You're literally bleeding out of your skin." He backtracked, "I mean, don't get me wrong, that's pretty manly," He could practically feel Todoroki's eyeroll, "but that must be painful."

Izuku's lips tugged up into a weak smile.

Kirishima latched onto his arm while being careful not to touch any bleeding areas, "Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."

He tried to pull away, but Todoroki started pushing him along as well. Izuku gave up on trying to fight back and just went along with them.

Glancing back, Izuku tried to see All Might, but the concrete wall still blocked his view. Giving up, he turned back around.

They were almost out of the plaza and to the stairs when a shodow passed overhead. Looking up, they saw the dragon flying towards the entrance. It was even bigger than it was before, and Izuku could see the figures of his classmates and some pro heroes being carried in its arms and riding on its back. Izuku couldn't help but smile as one of the figures waved down at them. He couldn't tell who it was, but the gesture was still appreciated.

"Tch," Izuku suddenly realized that Bakugou was following them, "when did you tell it to do that, you deku?" He flinched at the insult, wondering if Bakugou would ever call him by his real name. Now that he thought about it, had Bakugou called any of them by their real names?

Shaking the thoughts away before they could morph into muttering, he got about to answering the question. "W-when it came to me a-after the villains left. I told it to bring all of our classmates back to the entrance." He glanced back up to where it was landing at the top of the steps. "Looks like some of the pros hopped along for a ride too."

Bakugou scoffed, "Figures."

Izuku waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, the small lull in conversation turned into an awkward silence.

It continued until they reached the stairs, which Izuku visibility cringed at. He _really_ didn't feel like climbing stairs.

He was about suck it up and go on the stairs anyway when something big landed with a thud next to them.

Izuku wasn't that surprised this time, he had enough of surprises for the day. The dragon stood there once more, now about the size of a horse. It looked at him expectantly, and Izuku suddenly got an idea.

He motioned it over and it bounded excitedly over to him like a dog greeting its owner after spending the day all alone. It skidded to a stop right before it crashed into him, wings flapping to assist in the stop, and it gave him its full attention.

"Can you fly us up to the entrance, please?" He ignored Bakugou's eye roll.

It nodded and scooted backwards until it was clear of people and objects. The dragon then started to grow slightly bigger to accommodate for all the people. Once it was done, it walked back over and crouched down to let them climb onto its back.

Izuku let the others climb on before him so that they could help pull him onto it. Bakugou argued with them, saying that he, "didn't need anyone's fucking help," but once they pointed out that he would have to climb the stairs all by himself, he finally relented and climbed on.

It was Izuku's turn, and he approached the dragon's side to climb on. Kirishima and Todoroki were holding out their hands to help him up and he was about the grab them when the dragon stood up. Startled, Izuku stepped back, but it just turned to him and reached out. Realizing what it was trying to do, Izuku turned around and raised his arms to the best of his ability. He felt the skin on his shoulders and back tear slightly, but he ignored it as talons carefully wrapped his chest. The pressure wasn't enough to restrict his breathing, but tight enough to ensure he wouldn't fall.

The only warning he got before they took off was the sound of rustling behind him. The inertia from suddenly being in the air nearly made him puke, but the excitement and wonder of flying quickly took its place. Pain forgotten, Izuku reveled in the weight less feeling and how the wind tugged at his hair and clothes. The ground grew further and further away, but for once in his life, he wasn't afraid. He knew that his dragon wouldn't let anything happen to him.

The moment quickly ended as they reached the top of the steps. The dragon landed on its back feet first and then set Izuku down. It took Izuku a moment to adjust to being on ground again, but once he did he quickly moved out of the way so that it could let his classmates off.

The moment Izuku was away from the dragon he was being swarmed by people, most of them being his friends and classmates. Some of the pro heroes tried breaking through, but it soon became apparent that the endeavor was, in fact, quite impossible.

Uraraka was the head of the whole group, Iida following closely after, and she was in his face with rapid fire questions about his well being. His head became dizzy with the amount of questions he was being asked, not just from Uraraka, but from the rest of his classmates as well. He thought he could hear Kirishima yell something and he tried to head in that direction, but he soon found it hopeless.

Finally, someone managed to yell over the crowd of people. "Out of the way! You want him to get better, right?! Well that won't happen if you all suffocate the poor boy first!"

The students reluctantly moved to make way for the newly arrived person. Izuku was finally able to take in a good breath for the first time since he had been ambushed.

Emerging from his classmates came the short figure of Recovery girl. _Oh finally_, Izuku thought, _I've never been to glad to see a short person in my life. Wait, have I ever been excited to see a short person? How many short people have I seen besides Recovery Girl before? Have I-?_

"Come on, Izuku," He was pulled from the crowd by Recovery Girl, no one daring to try and stop her, "let's get you to the infirmary."

"W-wait!" He said suddenly, "What about All Might?!"

She snorted, "All ready on the way to the infirmary, like you should have been!" She spared a moment to glare over her shoulder at the students. "You heard that right!" She hollered at them.

To their credit, some of them actually looked ashamed, but Recovery Girl didn't seem to notice or care. She kept muttering under her breath about something, but since her back was turned he couldn't understand a word.

"So let me guess," she said, suddenly louder, "this has something to do with your quirk."

She looked back at him as he sheepishly nodded and she sighed before muttering, "Kids these days."

Izuku suddenly remembered about the dragon and twisted around to look for it. But when his eyes searched behind them, he saw no sign it. He felt a twinge of sorrow, but he pushed it down. It was just a piece of paper, he shouldn't get all sad over it. But that didn't make it any easier; it had helped him after all.

They passed through the entrance and Izuku was greeted with the feeling of sunshine and a gentle breeze. For a little bit there, Izuku thought that he'd never feel these sensations ever again, and feeling them now, well, let's just say that it really brought reality coaching down on him. He had nearly died at Shigaraki's hand, and then _survived_. Not many could say that.

Pride swelled in his chest momentarily, before he realized what that meant for him when he returned to the League.

Oh he was _so_ _dead_ when he got back.


	21. Chapter 21

"Mwuah!"

Izuku shuddered as Recovery Girl kissed his forehead. He wasn't used to people kissing him. The only time someone kissed him before was when Recovery Girl healed him. So he supposed the only person who has ever kissed him was Recovery Girl.

...Okay, he needs to stop. This is just getting weird.

Recovery Girl pulled away and Izuku slumped down. He had been expecting the exhaustion, but that didn't make it any easier.

"That should heal the worse injuries," Recovery said, "but since you were already tired, I'm unable to heal all of them." She got out of her chair and walked away, returning with a glass of water. She hopped up onto the chair and held it out to him, along with a pill. "Drink all of the water, and swallow the pill; it'll help with the pain."

Izuku nodded and took the items. The water felt good going down his throat, and he couldn't wait for the pain medicine to kick in. He had heard what it is supposed to do, and he was curious as to what it felt like to have pain just disappear.

"Now," Recovery Girl started moving away, "I need to check on All Might. Try not to get into anymore trouble, okay?"

He nodded, "I won't."

She disappeared behind the curtain that separated him and All Might. That had worried him at first, that his teacher's injuries were too bad for him to see, but Recovery Girl just ensured him that it was for privacy reasons.

Conversation started up and Izuku almost didn't recognize his teacher's voice. It sounded way too high pitched to be All Might. Too bad they were talking too quietly for him to hear what they were saying. Izuku didn't try to eves drop, his teacher at least deserved that after all that happened.

He just stared at his hands and at his crisscrossing thumbs. Crossing his thumbs over each other again and again, waiting for Recovery Girl to return.

The door opened, "Excuse me," Izuku looked up and saw a guy dressed in a tan trench coat and hat, "Is All Might here?"

Izuku opened his mouth to say something, maybe to ask why he wanted to see the Number 1 Hero, but All Might spoke before he could. "Tsukauchi? Is that you?"

The man, Tsukauchi, turned towards the direction of where All Might was. He walked over to look past the curtains, completely ignoring Izuku as he passed by. "Hey All Might. Been a while."

"Yeah. I didn't know they put you on the investigation."

Izuku wondered if the man was some sort of police officer. But if that was the case, he would be wearing some sort of outfit, right? Perhaps he was some sort of investigator. It is what All Might said, after all.

That's bad for Izuku; if he's an investigator, that is.

"Sorry to cut to the chase, but we could really use any information you have." Tsukauchi said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Hold on!" All Might said quickly, "Before all that, tell my all the students are okay. And Aizawa, er, Eraserhead, and 13."

Tsukauchi looked surprised, and then endeared. "Not counting this boy," he glanced over at Izuku with a smile, "the only student injuries were just scrapes. And both of the teachers are in stable condition right now. Relax."

He gave a sigh of relief at hearing that, and he heard All Might do the same. "That's good to hear."

Tsukauchi shifted forward and effectively moved out of Izuku's sight. "If you teachers hadn't risked your lives those students would have never made it. You three saved that entire class of kids today." Izuku felt indignation rise up his chest. His friends did amazingly out there, thank you very much!

"You're not seeing the whole picture, Tsukauchi." Izuku's eyes widened in surprise. "Those students also risked their lives today, and fought as hard as us."

Izuku focus his eyes on the curtains as if they were All Might himself, "Thank you, All Might."

He continued, "I don't think there's ever been a group of first years who experienced a real fight so early into their training. They not only survived, but they learned what it means to be a hero." Izuku blinked. "Those villains made a mistake attacking them." Damn right they did.

"This class is strong, and filled with courage, and drive. Mark my words," a pause, "they'll become great heroes."

Izuku looked away. He didn't deserve to hear this, it was his classmates who should be hearing those words, spoken from All Might himself.

"While we're on the subject, Recovery Girl, could you pull back the privacy curtains." Izuku flinched, wasn't he not supposed to see All Might? From the sounds of it, the others were just as surprised as he was.

"Are you sure? You know this can't be taken back once he see's." Recovery Girl said. Now Izuku was worried.

"I'm sure. I've made up my mind."

"Okay." There was a rustling sound, followed by a few footsteps. He braces himself right before the curtain was pulled back.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw, though.

He couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips. "A-A-A-All M-Might?!"

The skinny figure laying in the bed next to him couldn't be All Might. All Might is a muscular hero who always smiles, no matter what. The person in front of him was none of those things. He wasn't even smiling, so how could he possibly be All Might?

Izuku shook his head. _Come Izuku, you know better than that._

He refocused on All Might, or the person who claimed to be him. "How can you be All Might?"

He turned away and scratched at the back of his head as if considering how to answer the question. "Do you remember the big fight fight years back?"

Izuku blinked, "Yeah, that was the one with Toxic Chainsaw."

All Might looked surprised, "Wow, you really know your stuff." Izuku's face burned in embarrassment. "But no, almost one's heard of this fight." His hand raised to where bandages wrapped around his chest. Izuku remembered how the Nomu had dug his fingers into that spot.

"Five years ago, I got injured. Badly. My respiratory system is basically destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. All the surgeries have really worn me out, and it can't be fixed." Izuku felt like puking.

"Before this attack, I was able to hero work for only three hours a day. But now I fear that I may have reduced that time even more thanks to the fight with that thing." He shrugged, "This is what I look like the rest of the time."

Izuku couldn't believe it. All Might wasn't as strong as everyone thought. He was _fallible_.

Oh, Sensei would have a _field day_ with this information. Everyone in the League of Villains would.

He looked down at his now still thumbs, "I... never knew. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," All Might said, "It's not your fault."

Izuku frowned as a thought dawned upon him, "But, how does it work?"

All Might clearly wasn't expecting that question and he took a moment before he answered it. "It's, kind of hard to explain. The closest metaphor I can come up with to describe it is how guys at the pool always suck in and flex to try and look nice."

That... made sense, he supposed.

He decided to ask his next question, "Why are you telling me all this?"

This was question that All Might was expecting. "You can to my aid today when no one else even thought to and that saved my life. I think you deserve to know after all of that."

Izuku shrink into himself, "But I didn't do anything. I didn't help you. My attack failed."

All Might shook his head, "No it didn't. Your last minute attack bought me the precious seconds needed for the backup to arrive. If you hadn't done that, I wouldn't be here right now."

Shock flooded his body. He... saved someone's life?

No, that couldn't be right. Izuku's existence had only ever caused others pain and annoyance, and the fact that he had saved one of the most influential people in the _world_. It just-It couldn't be true.

"It's true." Izuku flinched. Did he say that out loud? Tsukauchi walked closer to Izuku. "I can't thank you enough for what you did. I heard what happened from your classmates, and I must say, I'm impressed." Izuku flushed and stuttered as he continued, "May I ask you a question?" _You just did_. He nodded. "How did you know they were going to attack?"

His heartbeat picked up as he racked his brain for a believable answer. "W-well, I-I didn't." Izuku gave a nervous shrug, "I Just figured it was better to be prepared and have nothing happen than not be prepared and have them attack."

Tsukauchi smiled, "That's very smart of you." He turned to All Might, "You've got a good kid here. He'll make an excellent hero one day."

All Might laughed. "I know."

_ If only they knew_.

Izuku could tell them. He could get it over with right now. But at the same time, he just, couldn't. They would surely arrest him, and when Izuku didn't return, the League would come find him. Somebody would get hurt, and it would be all his fault.

For now, he would except the praise and embrace the hesitant pride. The best thing to do was to keep quiet, so that's exactly what he'll do.


	22. Chapter 22

"Well, it's been good seeing you again, All Might," Tsukauchi said, "and meeting you, Midoriya, but I must get going. I'm still on duty after all." He chuckled.

All Might smiled at him, "Oh, of course." He motioned in his direction. "I'm sure young Midoriya will agree with me that it's been a pleasure."

Izuku's face flushed as both Tsukauchi and All Might looked at him expectantly. "Oh, um, yup! It's b-been great meeting you!" His arms waved in front of him in a desperate attempt to get the attention off of him. Being in the spotlight always gave him stage fright, no matter how small the situation.

Tsukauchi laughed, "I'm glad to hear that!" The laughter died down and he stood up while turning to All Might. The chair squeaked slightly against the tile. "You know where to find me if you need anything."

He walked over to the doorway and was about to open the door when Recovery Girl piped up. "Hold on," she hoped out of her chair and made her way Tsukauchi's side. He blinked at her. "I'm coming with you."

At his questioning look she just rolled her eyes, "Can't I catch up with a friend as well? Or does Toshinori only get that privilege?"

Realization crosses his features, "Oh! Why of course you can. I'm sorry." He amended.

Recovery Girl laughed, "You better be!" She tapped her syringe looking staff-thing on the ground impatiently, "Now, are you going to open the door or not?"

Regardless of whether Tsukauchi felt threatened or not, the door was open a moment later. "My apologies." He said nervously.

The short, old women walked out of the door mumbling something, and Izuku felt slightly relieved that he couldn't understand a word. Tsukauchi stepped out into the hall after Recovery Girl and glanced back. He gave them a final farewell, "Goodbye Toshi, Midoriya."

Izuku's small "Bye," was quickly covered up by All Might's very much louder "Goodbye!"

The door shut with a click and Izuku's gaze instantly slid over to the skinny man in the bed next to his. All Might was currently smiling and seemed to be in a very good mood, but his mind could only focus on one thing.

"Toshinori?"

The man seemed to snap out of whatever daze he had been in at Izuku's inquiry. His blue eyes met Izuku's green ones. "What?"

His eyebrows furrowed, "Recovery Girl called you Toshinori, and Tsukauchi called you Toshi."

It was easy to track the realization as it dawned across his bony features. A thin hand reached up to scratch to the back of his head while his eyes closed in mirth. "Oh, that's right! You don't know my citizen name."

He might have researched everything he could about the Number One Hero, found everything ranging from his fighting technique to his favorite food, but not once had Izuku ever been able to find out All Might's real name. It was something that some heroes shared freely, while others preferred to keep it a secret. All Might one of those that kept it a secret. Was he really going to tell him?!

It would certainly be a dream come true for Izuku. Many nights of staying up in the common room, on the only computer the League had, had yielded no results. Yet here he was, about get the answer from the man himself.

"My citizen name is Yagi Toshinori," he said, "but I would prefer it if you continued calling me by my hero name."

Izuku chuckled quietly, "It would be pretty weird if I just showed up to class calling you by your real name."

All Might laughed, "Yeah, I guess it would."

The laughter trailed off and they were left in an awkward silence. He shifted from where he was sitting up in the bed. He wasn't going to lie, it was kind of unsettling.

"Young Midoriya?"

Izuku snapped to attention. "Yeah?"

His teacher looked nervous. "May I ask you a question?"

_You just did_.

"Shoot."

All Might looked up with a troubled look on his face. He cleared his throat before speaking, "If you had my powers, what would you do?"

Well isn't that a strange question.

Gears in his mind instantly started turning and in no time he had managed to come up with several ideas. None of which he could possibly share with All Might.

Almost all of them had to do with him using it to defeat the League of Villains and finally freeing himself from the invisible cage they had him trapped in. There were many ways in which he could go about doing that, and he could happily spend the rest of the day just thinking about it. But for now he needed to give All Might an answer.

It was a simple answer really. But he knew it was the best one. "I'd save people."

A smile crossed his lips. "But wouldn't you do that anyways?"

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, "I would save people regardless of whether or not I had your quirk. Don't get me wrong, it would be amazing to have your power, and it would certainly make saving people easier, but that's not what a hero is." Oh great, he was going off again.

"A real hero saves people no matter what, even if they have no powers at all. So yeah, if I had your powers, I would save people."

Oh, saying that _hurt._ He had been born quirkless, he had only been given his quirk a couple of years ago, so he knew what it was like to be completely powerless.

Even then he had wanted to be a hero, to save people and maybe even save himself, but he realized now that it was completely pointless. He could never become a hero when he was a villain.

That didn't mean that he had completely gotten rid of his ideals, though. Sometimes those dreams were all that kept him sane and made him get up in the morning.

To lay those ideals out now, when he had already given up, almost made him want to cry.

It just wasn't _fair_.

"You alright?"

Izuku blinked and realized that he had actually started crying. Rubbing his eyes, he groaned in frustration. Why won't the tears stop?!

"I-I'm s-sorry! I'm trying to st-op, but they j-just won't!" Izuku choked out.

He heard a sound next to him like someone moving around, but he couldn't see past the tears.

Suddenly something wrapped around his shoulders and he froze. Was that an arm?!

"Hey," Izuku jumped around how close All Might sounded. "It's okay, just calm down. Can you do that?"

As he tried to do as All Might said, he suddenly became aware of the presence sitting right next to him.

Wait, All Might was _sitting right next to him._

His head snapped upwards and he felt All Might startle at the sudden movement. He stared at the slightly blurry shape of All Might and he proceeded to freak out.

"Oh my gosh! You shouldn't be out of bed! Especially to help me! You need to rest, you're not healed all the way and ohmygoshifsomethinghappensit'llallbemyfaultandi'll-"

"Young Midoriya!" All Might yelled over his rambling. Hands wrapped around his wrists. "Breathe!"

He noticed how his lungs were screaming at him, so he figured it was a good idea to do as All Might said. Air rushed into his lungs and the room seemed to spin around him. It stopped after a moment and Once it cleared Izuku realized he see again.

Immediately turning To All Might, Izuku scanned just teacher for any signs of pain or fatigue. To his relief, the hero seemed to be completely fine, besides the worry marring his face.

He looked away, embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry, All Might. I don't know what came over me." Well, he did, but he sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that.

"It's alright, young Midoriya. Sometimes even great heroes like myself get overwhelmed sometimes." A chuckle came from the man and Izuku glanced at him.

He wore an amused smile. "There was this one time that I went out to grocery store to, you know, buy groceries. I was in this form of course, and nobody recognized me as usual. I was in my way to leave when the person in front of me opened the door and actually held it open for me." All Might straight up laughing now. "I swore I nearly broke down in tears right there and then. And, oh boy, the person was so confused! They kept asking me if I was alright and all I could do was stare at them."

Izuku just stared at All Might, much as the person in his story must have. But he could feel something bubbling up his throat and before he knew it, he was chuckling right alongside him. It really was a strange story.

It was at this moment that Recovery Girl walked in. They must have looked crazy, laughing and giggling on Izuku's bed for no apparent reason. Recovery Girl was not happy in the fact that All Might has gotten out of bed and soon enough Izuku has his bed to himself again.

"I can't believe you two! You know better than that All Might!"

Izuku tried to stifle his laughter and then Recovery Girl was on him. "You're no better yourself, young man! Either one of you could have gotten hurt! Do you understand that?"

He ducked his head, "Yes ma'am." Any laughter was long gone now.

She nodded her head, "Good." The short woman turned so that she could see them both. "Care to tell me what happened?"

Izuku wrung his hands, "I-it's my fault. I started crying and All Might came over to help me."

All Might shook his head, "No, it was mine. I asked him a question that clearly distressed him. It was insensitive of me."

He felt his eyes widen at that and a distressed noise came unbidden from his throat. "But-"

"Ok! Enough of that. I'm not going to sit around and listen to you bicker over whose fault it is. Honestly, you two are worse than children sometimes!"

His face wrinkled in confusion, "But I am-"

"Shush!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

She sighed, "Now that we have THAT out of the way," she turned to Izuku, "how are you feeling?"

"Better," he said, "I don't feel any pain when moving and my skin doesn't seem to be peeling or anything anymore."

Recovery Girl nodded, "Good. If you're feeling better, then you are free to leave. Oh,"he glanced at her, "one of your classmates told me they wanted to talk to you when you got out. I believe they may be in the classroom still."

Confused, Izuku nodded back at her. "Thank you."

She harrumphed, "Thank me my being more careful! At this rate you'll cause permanent damage or worse."

Oh, that didn't sound good.

"I'll try." He said quietly.

"You better!"

Getting out of bed was surprisingly harder than it should have been. He guessed it must have been the fact that he had never had pain meds before.

Walking was easier once he knew what to expect and he walked to the door with little difficulty.

"Hold on!"

He turned to Recovery Girl. She held a glass full of water out to him. "Drink this before you leave."

He didn't question it, not wanting to be yelled again by the woman, and downed it all in one go. No matter what anyone else says, water is one of the best things in the world.

Giving the glass back to her, he waved at her. "Goodnight, thanks so much for your help, Recovery Girl."

She smiled at him, "My pleasure, be careful on your way home."

"Yes ma'am, he turned and opened the door. Sometimes Recovery Girl was an enigma, and he would just have accept that. He paused and glanced back at All Might. Their eyes locked.

Izuku gave his teacher a nervous smile. "Thank you, All Might," he said quietly.

The skinny man smiled brightly back in return, "Any time, young Midoriya."

The door closed with a click and Izuku was plunged into the darkness of the hallway. He hadn't realized how much time had passed.

"Hey, Midoriya."

"Eep!"


	23. Chapter 23

He spun around and came face to face with the person. A whoosh of air escaped his lungs in a sigh of relief. "As-I mean Tsu! You scared me there."

The frog girl fiddled with her fingers and looked away. "Sorry, ribbit. I was gonna wait until you came to the classroom, but I got impatient."

Izuku waved his hands as if to dismiss something, "I-it's no big deal!" He calmed down once he realized something, "Oh, were you the one that Recovery girl said wanted talk with me?"

"Yup!" She suddenly looked nervous, "Um, shouldn't we talk away from the door? Or do you want Recovery Girl and All Might to hear us?"

His face flushed, "Oh, r-right!" He turned and started walking in the direction of the classroom. Asui followed him.

"So," Asui said quietly, "I haven't told anyone yet."

Izuku nodded, "I figured that was the case once nobody came to arrest me or anything." He felt the color drain from his face, "What about Mineta?! He didn't spill anything, did he?"

Asui laughed. That's right, _laughed_, before she said anything. "Don't worry, ribbit, I made sure he didn't say anything."

They turned a corner. "How?" He asked incredulously.

She hummed, "I have my ways."

Izuku was suddenly glad she didn't tell him. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to know what kept the little pervert quiet.

Asui stopped in the middle of the hallway, and Izuku turned to look at her in confusion. "Tsu?"

"I won't keep your secret forever, you know." He felt his blood run cold. "As soon as it starts hurting people, I will immediately tell either Mr. Aizawa or All Might. I don't want to stand by and watch as this hurts my friends and classmates when I know something that could stop it."

Izuku looked away, "That's fair. I don't blame you for feeling that way. I would probably do the same if I was in your situation."

She looked at him, "The same goes for you too."

His eyes widened in surprise, "What?"

Asui looked away as if embarrassed, "I can't speak for the others, ribbit, but I don't want you to get hurt. Like I've said before, I know you're a nice person and I know you would gladly let yourself get beaten for the sake of others. That's why if I ever see you come to school injured I'm telling."

Izuku tried protesting but she just ignored him and continued walking. "You can't do that! Anything could happen!"

She still didn't respond and Izuku eventually gave up. They continued in silence until they were close to the classroom. From there Asui started up a random conversation.

"When did you have time to change out of your uniform? Ribbit."

He was slightly thrown off by the sudden change in topic, but he quickly realized what she was doing. She was making conversation about an innocent topic in case there were any students loitering around after school.

Going along with it, he said, "Oh, I changed soon after Recovery Girl healed me. She said something about Midnight wanting to clean the blood stains."

Asui quirked her eyebrow, "Midnight?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't think Midnight would like doing laundry, but then again, people have liked doing a lot weirder things." They glanced at each other and he knew the exact same thought was going through her head.

_Mineta_.

It honestly was kind of weird, though. Who just goes around doing other people's laundry?

Beside him, He saw her glance at his clothes. "Did they have your uniform? Or is that an extra one?"

Izuku shrugged. "I'm gonna guess it's my uniform. I doubt they would just give me an extra uniform."

Asui nodded, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

They turned into the hallway that their classroom was on and he saw Iida and Uraraka stepping out of the classroom. They were talking to each other and didn't seem to notice them just yet.

A weight instantly rose off his chest at seeing his friends unhurt. He knew Tsukauchi hadn't lied when he told All Might that everyone was okay, but a part of him needed to see it for himself. The League of Villains didn't go easy on anyone, even kids. He would know.

Asui momentarily forgotten, he jogged forward and waved at them. "Hey guys!"

Uraraka instantly brightened at seeing him. "Izuku!" She ran towards him and, unlike Izuku, didn't slow down when she neared him. Crashing into him at full force, Uraraka wrapped her arms around him. He just barely managed to keep them both from falling onto the hard ground.

His arms hovered in the air, unsure of what to with them, before he hesitantly hugged her back. It was awkward, really awkward(he even the 'pat pat' thing), but Uraraka didn't seem to mind.

She pulled back after a minute, and Izuku visibly relaxed. He didn't have much experience with hugs, or touchy-feely things in general, but he would try if it made his friends happy.

"Are you okay? You were covered in blood! Everyone was worried sick!"

He put up his hands, "I'm fine! It looked worse than it was. Really!"

She huffed, "Well then," she punched his arm, "don't ever do that again! What were you thinking! You can't just attack villains like that!"

His hand rubbed his arm. Uraraka really knew how to throw a punch. That had actually hurt. He gave her his most convincing smile. "I'm sorry, I'll try not to."

He could feel eyes burning into his back.

"Hello, Midoriya."

Iida had walked up to them while they had been talking. His arm stiffly held a yellow backpack. "We grabbed your stuff for you."

"Oh," he took the backpack, "thanks Iida!"

Iida nodded sharply in return. "Of course! Anything to help a fellow classmate in need."

Izuku smiled at him. His fellow classmate had a kind heart beyond all of the stiffness. No matter how strict he may seem at times, Izuku knew he did it in everybody's best interest.

Glancing around, he saw no one else in the hallway. "Has everyone else left already?"

Uraraka nodded, "Yeah. Todoroki wanted to stay and see you as well, but he left after getting a phone call. He looked really angry."

"Huh, that's strange."

Uraraka looked up as if thinking of something. "I wonder if everything's okay. We may not be friends or anything, but he seems like a nice person." Her gazed turned back to Izuku, "Well, to you at least."

Izuku was confused. "What do you mean?"

Uraraka looked upset for some reason. "I mean, the way he acts around you. He doesn't even talk to the rest of us, yet he seems perfectly comfortable around you. If I didn't know better, I say he might even _like_ you."

His face immediately burned in embarrassment. He tried to hid his face behind his hands. "W-what?! _L-l-like_ me?!"

Uraraka's eyes narrowed, "If I did know better, I'd think _you_ liked him."

"O-Kay! Well, that's enough of that, don't you think?" Izuku laughed nervously. "Why don't we go home now, yeah?"

Iida nodded, "Yes! It is already dark out, so the sooner we leave, the better."

Relief filled his chest that Iida supported his escape, even if he didn't realize it. In front of him, Uraraka huffed but let the topic go as they started walking.

Izuku stopped as he remembered something. He turned around, "Oh, Ts-" his words abruptly cut off as he realized Asui was gone.

"Izuku?"

He snapped back forward as grinned sheepishly at his friends. "Sorry, I thought I saw something."

Uraraka looked at him in concern. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

She still looked concerned, but didn't press him. "If you so..."

They continued on and Uraraka talked about what happened in class when they got back. Apparently they had been left unsupervised for some time, and, as expected, chaos ensued.

Izuku tried to listen to her and give adequate responses, and he did at the beginning, but his thoughts eventually circled went back to Asui. She had been just been behind him, so why did she leave? It didn't make sense, but he had to admit that he was kind of glad that he didn't have to come up with some sort of excuse as to why they were walking together.

They walked together all they way out of Yuuei and they continued down the same path together as they walked home. Izuku didn't mention that he lived in the complete opposite direction.


	24. Chapter 24

Looking at the door before him, Izuku try's not to think about what's waiting for him on the other side. The last time he was here had been yesterday morning, the longest he had ever been away, and that is sure to get some backlash. Not to mention the stunt he had pulled just a few hours ago.

Taking a deep breath, his knuckles knock firmly on the door, the familiar rhythm just making his heart race further.

Unlike last time, the door swings open immediately.

"Nice of you to show up." Shigaraki says.

Izuku can't stand the glare, so he looks at the ground while muttering, "Sorry," under his breath.

He can hear Shigaraki huff in annoyance before walking away from the door. He calls out from over his shoulder, "Oh, Sensei wants to talk to you. Alone."

Oh that's never good. Talking to Sensei is never a pleasant experience, but he knew this is going to be worse. It already is worse.

There are no rookies hanging out in the bar as he enters. Just Kurogiri standing behind the bar as usual, cleaning the ever dirty glass. He doesn't look up as Izuku passes.

Izuku really doesn't feel up to seeing Sensei right at this moment, and Shigaraki was gone, so he slips into his room before doing anything else.

In his room, his throws his backpack onto the ground and nearly collapses onto his small bed. Catching himself on the wooden wall, he sighs. Today had been a long day, and it was only going to get longer.

Somehow, he thinks that's going to be a theme so long as this goes on.

He doesn't turn on the light, instead settling for the darkness as he gathers himself. Straightening up, he went over what Sensei was most likely going to talk to him about this time.

"So," he mutters to himself, "first of all, I helped my classmates get away from the rookies. They were attacking me as well, plus I still need to keep up appearances, so I might be able to get away with that one. Second of all, I attacked both Kurogiri _and_ Shigaraki, resulting in the failure of the mission." He winces at that one. Yeah, there's no way their going to let that one go.

"Lastly, I-" he hesitates on this one. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to say this one out loud. The walls have ears, after all.

_ I told someone_, he finish's in his head. He might as well have said it out loud, if how he nearly passes out is anything to go by.

He catches himself on the wall(he's never noticed how useful walls are) once more and tries to calm himself down. It is _not_ a good time to start panicking and passing out. He's supposed to be composing himself right now, not freaking himself out _even more_.

The pain he feels from slapping himself on the cheek is actually very effective in getting himself anchored. Huh, maybe he should try it more often.

...Or maybe not. His classmates would definitely think he is weird if he started slapping himself in the middle of class. If they didn't already think he was, that is.

_Ugh! Stop getting distracted!_ Shaking his head, he shoves those thoughts into the back of his mind. They can be dealt with later. Right now he needs to focus on the problem at hand.

So, he already knows what he can say to get out of the first problem, but what about the second? The same excuse won't work twice, and Sensei might even question the first problem again if he gives the same answer.

Thinking, Izuku struggles to come up with a plausible reason. The only thing that comes to mind is the truth, and that is out of question.

_Or is it?_

An idea pops into his mind and his eyes widen.

Of course! He'll just tell them that it was a bad idea, that he was saving them from doing something that will hurt them. Of course, he's pulling that straight out of his _ass_, but anything is better than nothing. Right?

Feeling much better, and lighter, Izuku puffs his chest out. It gives him a little more confidence, and he always needs a little more of that, so why not?

Turning around, he exits his room and makes his way to the doors waiting for him at the end of the hall.

They tower over him like always, but he doesn't let that get to him. He should really be used to it by now anyways.

It is dead silent as he pushes the doors open, the metal cold underneath his hands. He can't see two feet in front of him as he steps into the dark room. The darkness seems to reach out to him, calling him into its midst. He tries to ignore it.

Closing the door behind him, he stands very still as he waits for something to happen. Normally the tv would already be on, illuminating the room with faint light, but it is completely off. Under normal circumstances, Izuku wouldn't let this get to him, but this has never been normal, nor does he think it ever will be.

Uncertainty stirs in his gut as the minutes pass by slowly. Just as he thinks he might just leave, something shifts in the darkness. His breath catches in his throat as he tries to make out what it is, but before he can something rams into his chest.

He hits the ground hard, the breath knocked out of him. Pain shoots through his back and head. He doesn't notice how his lungs stop working.

The pressure on his chest leaves and suddenly he's blinded by the overhead lights. His eyes struggle to adjust to the lighting, but he isn't distracted from the sound of approaching footsteps. He doesn't try run away from them or try to hide. It's pointless and they both know it.

"You know, I thought that you were smarter than this, but I guess I should have known better." Izuku tries to take in a breath, but his lungs still refuse to work even though they're screaming at him. A shadowy figure blocks out the lights as it stands over him. "You never learned your lesson, did you?"

Izuku tries to say something, to defend himself, but nothing comes out. His hands are gripping and clawing are his chest and tears well in his eyes. They don't escape, he refuses to give Sensei that.

Sensei seems to notice his struggle and he kicks him in the side. He's thrown to the side from the impact and pain blossoms in his side, but it does seem to kickstart his lungs into working once more.

Oxygen enters his lungs and he's never hated and been as grateful as he is in that moment. The emotions are confusing, especially mixed together, but he pushes it to the side. Just like he's done with so many other things.

The dark figure of Sensei follows him and he finds himself staring into his horribly disfigured face. He's never really noticed how it seems like his entire face is constantly melting before. Then again, Izuku has only seen Sensei in person once before now.

A hand reaches up and coves his face. He tries not to cringe at how the smell of death and decay fills his senses."I didn't want to do this, but you've forced my hand."

Izuku doesn't get to question the words, as suddenly there's a pulling sensation filling his entire body. Realization floods his body along with the pulling and for the first time in years he starts fighting back.

He knows what this is, has enough sense to realize that the sensation is the opposite of what he felt when he got his quirk. Back then it had felt like something was being pushed into his body. Now it feels like something is being pulled out.

Sensei is taking away his quirk.

The only thing that goes through his mind is, _why?_ It doesn't make any sense.

He can't help the tears now, nor the whimpers, or the way his body flails in desperation. Izuku may have been born without a quirk, but for all intents and purposes, he might as well have been with all the fear he is feeling right now.

His fingers are starting to become numb and pain laces through his head in a twisted version of a migraine. Something in his body gives way and all of a sudden his body goes limp. All the muscles and joints in his body ache, but the headache lessens slightly.

Sensei removes his hand and Izuku dimly notices that the room looks a lot darker than before. Maybe he's just imagining things. Or passing out. Both seem very likely right now.

He hears Sensei start speaking, but it's as if he was talking through a wall. "I wonder how hard Yuuei is without a quirk." Izuku could almost see the smirk on his mouthless face. "I guess you'll find out."

Sensei turns as if to walk but pauses, "Oh, and if anyone finds out, well," a shiver runs down his spine, "you know what'll happen."

And with that, a black, slime-looking substance engulfs his body. Izuku watches as it, along with Sensei, disappears into thin air.

A moment passes and nothing happens.

The tension melts out of his body and Izuku nearly passes out right then and there. He stops himself though, the thought of sleeping here is more than enough to keep him awake.

Forcing himself to his feet, he ignores his aching muscles and stumbles over to the nearest wall, which so happens to be the one with the exit. He takes a moment to sag against the wall, something wet running down his nose, before continuing on to the doors.

He nearly gives up on pushing the doors open, not quite realizing how heavy they are, but he manages to open it just enough to slip through. The hallway behind it is as dark as ever, and he nearly trips on the junk piled up near the walls as he walks to his room.

Nobody comes out of the rooms, and he can hear nothing coming from any of them either. It truly is just him, Kurogiri, and Shigaraki living here now.

He's ready to collapse as he finally reaches his room, the door much lighter than the ones before, and for that he is very grateful. Somehow managing not to slam his door behind him(he doesn't feel like getting yelled at by Shigaraki), he all but gracefully falls onto his bed. Not bothering to change clothes or even get under his blanket, he reaches a hand into his back pocket. As much as he wants to just fall asleep and never wake up, he needs to check, needs to make sure.

Bring his hand back into his line of sight, he stares at the price of paper in his hand. Concentrating through the headache is hard, but he manages and he's still staring at the unchanged piece of paper five minutes later.

Something in him that had been hoping, _praying_, that he was wrong breaks and a sob tears through his throat. The sobs rack his body and tears stream down his face, creating a wet spot in his mattress. He doesn't notice, nor does he care, too caught up in his grief to care about anything else but the fact that it is gone. And he may never get it back.

All the creatures that he has created flash through his mind and his sobs grow louder. he covers his mouth with his hand, he didn't want them to know they won, but he doesn't do much else.

The crying exhausts him, and he can feel the world growing faint around him, and he lets himself slip into oblivion.

Even as he falls deeply asleep, the tears don't stop for a long time.


	25. Chapter 25

Yagi watches as the door closes behind the young Midoriya, the sound echoing through the now dead silent room. His gaze slides over to where Recovery Girl stands. An almost constipated look is on her face. He snorts involuntarily and quickly glances away as Recovery Girl looks at him.

"What?" She asks.

He coughs. "N-nothing!"

She must shrug it off, passing it as another one of his antics because she continues as if it never happened. "Tsukauchi said something interesting to me when we were walking together."

This raises Yagi's interest and he leans forward. "What do you mean?"

Recovery Girl sighs and leans back in her chair. "He said that Midoriya lied."

Yagi almost chokes on his own spit and Recovery Girl has to pat his back as he tries not to die. Coughing has never been good for his injuries, so he tries to stifle them to the best of his ability.

Recovery Girl leaves while his coughing fit dissipates, but returns after a moment with a glass of water. He faintly wonders where she keeps getting the glasses and water from, but he pushes the thought away.

"A-about what?!"

Her eyes narrow, "He said it was when he asked him a question. About how he knew that the villains were going to attack you."

Here All Might's face twists in confusion. "Why would young Midoriya lie about that?"

Recovery Girl just shrugs. "Your guess guess is as good as mine." She sighs and leans back in her chair. "I'm concerned about that boy. He is very sweet and brave, that much I know, but I can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something. Something big."

Yagi nods his head in agreement. "I understand where you're coming from. I want to trust him, and I do to some extent, but I feel like he's hiding something." Worry swirls in his gut and he feels his face darken in consternation.

He lifts his gaze to the short woman in front of him and sees his own expression mirrored in hers. "I can't help but worry for the kid. Somehow I can just tell that he's the one, you know?" He shakes his head, "But how can I give him One for All when I know next to nothing about him?"

"It's not my place to tell you what to do or how to feel," Recovery Girl says, "but if I were you, I wouldn't just sit around and do nothing."

The confusion rises above the other, conflicting, emotions he's feeling. His face must show as much because Recovery Girl huffs at him and crosses her arms like it's obvious. "You're the one complaining about not knowing anything about him, yet you've taken no steps to actually get to know him!"

He opens his mouth and then closes it, doing this a few more times until his mouth forms an '_Oh'_.

_That, is actually a very good point,_ he thinks sheepishly. He feels his face start to heat up. "Well," he mutters quietly, "when you put it that way..." he trails off, the statement hanging in the air.

Recovery Girl shakes her head. "Whatever you do, just try to make sure that boy stays out of here for awhile." Her eyes narrow dangerously, "If he ends up in here too much more then I'll have to ban him from the infirmary."

She quickly amends her statement at his look. "Not literally. I'll just make him believe he'll have to be more careful."

Yagi nods his head and sudden found himself fighting the urge to laugh. A snort escapes him and Recovery Girl looks at him funnily. "What?" She asks him.

The image of the short woman refusing to let young Midoriya inside the infirmary flashes in his mind, making him want to laugh harder. The laughter immediately cut off once he realizes just why young Midoriya might need to go to the infirmary. "N-nothing," he says after a moment.

Recovery Girl raises an eyebrow at this, but then shrugs it off. "Well, you seem well enough to leave."

He is thrown off at the sudden change in subject and he dumbly responds with a, "W-What?"

She hops off her chair and walks toward her desk. "You've healed up nicely over the past few hours, and there's not much else I can do for you, so you're free to go. So long as you're feeling up to it, that is." She hops onto her office chair and spins around to look at him.

"I'm sure I can make it home alright. My wound doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did when I first got here." And it's true. He's not completely out of pain, he hasn't been for five years now, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. The biggest worry he has is about having enough energy to make it all the way home.

"Good." She turns to her desk once more. "I'm still not happy that you got out of bed earlier, but if you could do that, then you should be fine going home."

Yagi nods in agreement. He had felt fine getting up to comfort young Midoriya, so he feels confident in his abilities of getting home. He shifts in his bed, continuing only once he is sure he won't jostle his wounds.

Getting out of the bed is surprisingly easy. It's as though he was never in bed to begin with. Standing up, he can't help but look down at himself. Bandages are wrapped tightly around his chest and shoulder, but other than that, he appears to have no other injuries. He has Recovery Girl to thank for that.

Looking around, he glances at Recovery Girl. "Is there any shirts that I can borrow?"

The short woman startles as she realizes he was only wearing his oversized yellow suit pants. "Of course! Just give me a second."

She spins around in her office chair and pushes towards the wooden sliding doors on the wall. With it now open, he looks past her to see a variety of equipment and medicine filed neatly in place. Recovery Girl reaches down and opens a drawer, pulling out a plain white t-shirt. It is clearly way too big for his scrawny form, but she spins back to him with it held out in front of her.

"It's a little big, but you wear big clothing anyways so you'll be fine."

Yagi splutters for a moment, a little surprised at her comment. The woman just waved it off. "Oh stop acting so surprised. You know it's true."

He feels heat rise to his face and glances away. "It's because I need to be able to transform without ripping my clothes." He mutters while walking towards her. She just hums in response and he grabs the shirt.

Carefully lifting his arms, he slips the shirt on over his head. It settles unevenly on his shoulders, one of the sides slipping off, but he doesn't pay it any mind.

Looking back at Recovery Girl, he sees a concerned look on her face. "Did that hurt?" She asks him.

Shaking his head, he smiles at her. "No, It's fine. Thank you for asking."

She smiled warmly at him. "Always, dearie." She pushes herself towards her desk once more and he has to jump back slightly to avoid his toes getting run over. He frowns at that.

"Do you by chance have any shoes I could borrow as well?" He asks nervously.

Spinning back towards him, he sees the frown is back. "No, I don't, unfortunately. It would be strange to just have an extra pair of shoes lying around, don't you think?"

This time it's Yagi's turn to frown. "Some would say it's strange to have extra shirts lying around as well."

Recovery Girl snorts at this. "People ruin their shirts all the time in battle. The same typically can't be said for shoes though."

"Well then, what happened to mine?"

She looks at him strangely. "You know what happened to them. After being dug though the concrete as much as they did I'm surprised they were even still on your feet by the time the fight was over. They were ruined like the rest of your clothes." She glances at his pants. "Besides your pants."

He chuckles, "Right. Well, I think I'll be able to manage. It's mostly just a train ride to get home."

He can practically feel the concern radiating off her. "If you say so. Here eat this." She suddenly is holding a piece of candy out to him. "To help give you some energy." She explains.

Taking the candy, he pops it into his mouth. It tastes sweet.

Swallowing it, he gives her nod. "Thank you, Chiyo."

She smiles at her name, "Anytime, Toshinori."

Something suddenly pops into his mind. "Oh, do you remember what we talked about last concerning young Midoriya?" She nods. "Have you made any headway?"

Shaking her head, she sighs. "Nothing of importance. It's worrying, honestly."

Yagi puts a hand on her shoulder, "I know. For now, just keep searching for what you can find. I'll do my best to help."

"Thank you," she says with a smile, "but I'm afraid there's not much you can do without the proper knowledge. I appreciate your offer though."

He nods. Turning away to face the door, he starts to walk away. Pausing in front of the door, he glances over his shoulder. "I know you may be harsh on the students sometimes, but I know it's only because you care."

She huffs are that. "Well someone has to scare them into being more careful."

Yagi laughs, "You and Aizawa." The laughter dies down. "Thank you, though. For everything."

She smiles at him. "And thank you, All Might, for everything."

And with that, he opens the door and starts his journey home.


	26. Chapter 26

He wakes with a start, shooting upwards as a harsh knocking fills the room. Kurogiri's voice filters through the wooden door. "Get up. It's time for school."

Groaning, Izuku rubs at his eyes, feeling off for some reason. "I'm up. Give me a second." He hears a grunt from the other side of the door, followed by footsteps.

Landing back on his bed, he lets out a puff a air. He has a terrible head ache and he feels strangely dehydrated.

Frowning, he reaches underneath his body as something rough brushes against his neck. Pulling his hand in front of him, his confusion only grows when he sees a piece of paper.

_Wha_-

He suddenly gasps as the events of two days ago come rushing back to him. Tears prick his eyes as he stares at the wrinkled piece of paper, the events running over and over again in his head.

Not that he hadn't had plenty of time to do that yesterday, of course. The day off from school had been welcome, giving him another day to prepare for his now quirkless school life.

He just can't believe that Sensei would actually _do_ this. It is huge risk and the task of somehow hiding the fact that he is suddenly quirkless has been thrust onto him. He has no idea how he is going to hide this from everyone. The only hope he has now is that they don't do any training today. Or ever again, that is. He winces, _yeah, that's not going to happen_.

A knock sounds on the door. "Hurry up." Comes Shigaraki's voice.

"O-okay," he answers shakily.

Getting up is a chore, but he somehow ends up standing on his feet. He tries to smooth out the wrinkles formed on his uniform from sleeping in it, but he quotes halfway through, too tired to really care anymore.

Grabbing his bag on the way out, he leaves his room. Pushing his arms through the straps as he walks, he enters the bar area. Kurogiri and Shigaraki are there, as he expected they would be, and Shigaraki glances up as he passes.

"Not gonna have breakfast with us?" He asks mockingly.

Izuku doesn't look at him as he responds, "No. I don't want to be late." He knows it's just a trick. No matter how hungry he is, they don't just _give_ him food.

Shigaraki shrugs and turns back to the bar, "Your loss. Oh, and you might want to wipe your face. You look terrible."

He hides a wince by reaching up and wiping his face. Yeah, he probably should have thought of that. Crying practically for practically two days straight usually has that effect.

Once he is satisfied with the state of his face, he opens the door and shuts it before Shigaraki can say anything more. The wind is pleasant on his face, cooling his raw face and making him feel oddly refreshed.

Walking down the barren street, he tries to lift his spirit by relishing in the fact that he doesn't have any major bruises or broken bones. Sure that night caused some light bruising wear Sensei hit him, but his high pain tolerance and day of doing nothing leaves him feeling almost no pain.

It works somewhat and he finds walking less draining than before and the world seems that much further away from crumbling all around him.

The rest of the walk and train ride to school is uneventful, thankfully, and he finds himself standing in front of Yuuei. It must just be him, but the school looks slightly darker than it did yesterday.

Walking through the gate, he sees a few other students hanging around, but he ignores them. He just wants to sit down at his desk and never get up again.

He's on his way to do just that when a particular group of students catch sight of him.

"Hey Midoriya! Over here!"

He turns to look at the group and sees Kirishima standing with practically the entire rest of the class. He sighs internally, but he goes over to them anyway.

Kirishima greets him with a pat on the shoulder while saying something about not wanting to be cramped in a classroom. Izuku gives him one ear while also looking around. Everyone is accounted for except for Bakugou, Aoyama, Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Yaoyorozu. He frowns at that, Yaoyorozu seems to be the type to be early.

While his eyes scan over his fellow classmates, they momentarily lock with Todoroki's. Staring into those mismatched eyes, he just gives him a tired smile. He is just too tired to be flustered right now.

Todoroki returns it, but it is also laced with something else. If he didn't know better, he would think it was concern, but he just shrugs it off. He is probably just imagining things.

His attention is drawn back to Kirishima when he waves a hand right in front of his face. Looking at Kirishima's worried smile, he gives him his full attention. "Hey, you okay dude? You don't look so good."

Izuku forces out another smile, "Yeah, I'm good. I just didn't sleep very well last night."

Kirishima pats his shoulder again and looks at him with an understanding look. "I know what you mean. Tuesday was pretty crazy."

Confusion clouds his mind for a moment before he remembers. _Oh yeah, the USJ attack was two days ago too_. He had nearly forgotten.

"Uh huh." He manages to force out. It is like there's a black hole in his chest that is just sucking all of his energy right out of his body. Everything he does just tires him and he has to constantly remind himself that he can't just lay down on the floor and never get up again.

"Well," Kirishima continues, "we're just waiting for a few others, and then we'll head up together. Bakugou and Aoyama already went up to the classroom, but other than that, everyone's agreed to stay down here for everyone. Who knows, it might even become a daily routine for our class! How cool would that be!"

Some of his energy rubs off on him and he nods. "That would be nice." He agrees.

Kirishima beams. "Right?! This way we'll all become closer than any of the other classes!"

Izuku nods once more. It really is a good idea, he just wishes he could enjoy it with the rest of his friends.

Suddenly Kirishima perks up as he catches sight of something at the gate. "Oh look! They're here!"

Turning around to see what he is talking about, he sees Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Hagakure getting out of a fancy looking car. He briefly feels guilt at the fact that he hadn't even realized that the invisible girl was missing.

Tsuyu is animatedly talking to Uraraka while Yaoyorozu and Hagakure seem to be laughing about something.

They catch sight of the class and wave while they start walking towards them. The fancy car quickly drives away behind them.

"Hey guys!" Kirishima greets them as they get closer, "I didn't know you were going to be arriving together."

Yaoyorozu nods. "They live near where I live, so I offered to bring them to school."

"And of course we said yes!" Hagakure exclaims, "Momo is the best!"

"Momo?"

Yaoyorozu smiles at them softly. "Yes. I consider you all to be my friends now, so please call me Momo." She bows her head slightly.

Mina suddenly bursts from the crowd and practically tackles Yaoyorozu in an attempt to hug her. "Thank you so much, Momo! I know we all consider you to be our friend as well," she glances back at us, "right guys?"

Their class stirs into action, almost everyone yelling out their agreement while the others, like Izuku, nod their head.

"Now come on!" Mina squeals, "Let's go to class!" She leads everyone towards the building.

They happily follow and his classmates begin to chat amongst themselves. Yaoyorozu herself had the largest crowd around her out the group, but he's not surprised. He himself ends up trailing after everyone, no one really paying him any attention as they focus on either what just happened or their own things.

Izuku doesn't really mind, he prefers to be alone when he's like this anyways, but he can't quite push away the hurt. It feels like he's being forgotten now that everything is over. Not even Iida and Uraraka have come up to say hi, and all the rest of his friends are with Yaoyorozu.

"Hey." He jumps at the voice, not expecting it. Turning his head, he sees Todoroki walking beside him. He blinks, _when did he get there?_

"H-hey." He says nervously. "W-Whatcha doing?"

Todoroki looks at him strangely. "Walking."

Izuku glances away. "R-right."

They continue in silence as they enter the building. They turn a corner with their classmates, no one paying any attention to the pair.

"You seem off today."

Izuku chances a glance at Todoroki, but only sees his classmate looking straight a head with a bored looking expression.

He glances down at his shoes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

A sigh comes from beside him. "Don't play dumb, I know there's something wrong. You don't seem as bright as you usually do."

His nose wrinkles at that. _Bright? What the heck does that mean?_

"Well," he says, "you have known me for like a total of three days and we've only ever had a real conversation once."

Todoroki huffs. "I don't need to know you to know that this isn't you. You light up our classroom with your smiles and your personality outshines everyone else." He pauses, "Well, when you show it that is."

Izuku holds back a snort.

A groan. "Listen, I'm not good with stuff like this, but I've seen the way you've effected those in our class, and even me." This confuses Izuku, but he can feel his spirits lift at the words.

"How have I effected you?" He asks the teen tentatively.

There is a lull in the conversation and Izuku steals another glance at Todoroki. He has a contemplative look on his face.

"I'm not sure I want to talk about this here." He says after a bit.

Izuku glances around and nods. They are getting close to the classroom and there are many students all around, not including their classmates. "I understand. Do you want to talk about it some other time?"

He nods. "Is right after school okay with you?"

Thinking about what he needs to do after school, Izuku nods. There isn't anything that he needs to do after school other than get back to the base, so he thinks he can do that.

Izuku smiles at Todoroki and he smiles hesitantly back. This conversation has really helped him. The black hole in his chest has almost completely faded. It's not completely gone, but it feels like he can make it through the day now.

Not long after that they reach the classroom and the first students go inside. Instantly people are rushing forward and he can hear yelling from inside.


	27. Chapter 27

Peering past everyone and into the classroom, he sees Kirishima holding a fuming Bakugou away from Aoyama. Sero and Kaminari are hovering around him and he can see Mina and Yaoyorozu checking on Aoyama. He can't see any injuries from here, but he knows he could be hurt somewhere out of sight.

"Let me at him! I'll give the bastard something to sparkle about!" Bakugou screams making many of them wince from the volume. Izuku feels bad for Kirishima.

"Dude calm down! There's no need to be violent!" Kirishima says, trying to get the blonde to calm down.

"Yes there is!"

Aoyama holds a hand to his forehead dramatically, "You almost ruined my makeup, you brute!"

Izuku can practically see the vain pop in Bakugou's forehead. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Chill dude! Just let it go!"

By this point Sero and Kaminari have intervened, both of them trying to restrain the struggling blonde with Sero's tape. They succeed, but Izuku has a feeling that it's only because he doesn't want to anger Mr. Aizawa by blowing up the desks and his students.

The rest of the class filters in now that their resident explosive blonde is restrained. Everyone takes a seat and starts talking to themselves. Izuku sneaks past the still fuming blonde and takes his seat right behind him.

There is a few minutes left in class and he has nothing better to do, so Izuku just stares out the window while listening to the conversations in front of him.

"You guys," Hagakure says, "did you watch the news last night?"

"Yeah."

"It was so cool that we got a few seconds of screen time. Though I bet nobody noticed me hanging out in the background." Her voice cracks on the last part.

"Probably not." Was that Shouji?

"Eh- It is difficult to stand out when you're just gloves." That's the tail guy.

A new group of students overtakes the conversation. "We're totally big deals. Those news channels love us. We're basically celebrities." Ah, that's Kaminari.

"Yeah, it's kind of crazy right?" Kirishima says.

"Get over yourselves," was that Jirou? "the hero course that pumps out pros was attacked. That's what they care about."

"Who knows what would have happened to us is the teachers hadn't shown up." Says Sero.

"Why'd you say that?!" Izuku winces as Mineta suddenly yells out behind him. "I'm gonna pee myself just thinking about it!"

_Ughh_, Izuku thinks to himself, _Mineta's so annoying._

Thankfully, Bakugou intervenes with an explosion. "Oh shut up and grow a pair you loser!" He yells over his shoulder.

Izuku never thought he'd ever think this, but _thank you Bakugou._

Sato ignores the outburst and continues talking. "Did you guys see All Might fighting the bird guy? That dud was super strong and he still destroyed him!"

"Yes," Tokoyami says, "his strength is truest a thing of wonder."

Suddenly there's running and Izuku looks over to see Iida stop behind the podium. "Attention! Homeroom class is about to begin. Everyone stop talking and take your seats!"

"Uh, we're all sitting." Someone says.

"Yeah you're the only one standing."

Iida makes his way back to his deck, silently fuming all the way there. He sits down dramatically. "Dang-it."

Uraraka pats him on the back, "Don't sweat it."

Izuku ignores them once more in favor of thinking about their teacher. He had been pretty beat up the last time they saw him, so he is probably not going to teach them today. He wonders who will take his place.

Right as he thinks that, the door slides open to reveal Mr. Aizawa, bandages on every inch of exposed skin and both of his arms in slings. Izuku feels sweat roll down his fore head. Not even his _eyes_ were visible. "Morning class." He says, his voice muffled by the bandages.

Apparently everyone else had the exact same thought as him, because they all say, "Mr. Aizawa?! What are you doing here?"

"Woah, what a pro." Kirishima says.

Iida raises his hand, probably forgetting the he _can't see_. "Mr. Aizawa, I'm glad you're okay!"

As if _that's_ okay.

"You call that okay?" At least Uraraka has some common sense.

Mr. Aizawa makes it to the podium, and Izuku takes a moment to admire just _how_ he made it there without being able to see. "My well-being is irrelevant. What's more important is that your fight isn't over yet."

The tension in the air rises as the same thought of the League floats through everyone's mind. Well, almost everyone. Izuku completely ignores it and instead realizes that there is, in fact, a gape in the bandages for his eyes. They don't look so good though, as they're all red and puffy looking.

"The Yuuei Sports festival is about to start." And it takes Izuku a moment to remember that, yeah, that actually have that. He's never seen one himself, but he read up on it while researching Yuuei. Apparently it is a competition in which hero course and support class students go through multiple events and battles to reach the number one spot.

Izuku doesn't really get the point of it, but it sounds important.

Everyone shows various degrees of relief, most likely recovering from the scare Mr. Aizawa gave them. Kirishima is one of the most excited out of all of them. "Yes! Let's go kick some ass!"

Kaminari, for once the voice of reason, shoves his hand onto Kirishima's face. "Wait a second."

Jirou continues the statement. "Is it really such a good idea to hold the sports festival so soon after the villains snuck inside?"

"They could attack once we're all in the same place." The tail guy says.

Murmurs of agreement echo throughout the classroom, but Mr. Aizawa's voice silenced them. "Apparently the administration thinks this is a good way to show that the threat has been handled and our school is safer than ever." Mr. Aizawa sounds skeptical as he says this. "Plus they're beefing up security compared to past years. This opportunity is a huge opportunity for the students of Yuuei. It's not something we can cancel because of a few villains."

Izuku is paying close attention to what his teacher is saying now. It would be helpful to know why this event is so important.

Mineta seems to be on the same page, as he asks the very same question that's on his mind. "Um, why not? It's just a sports festival."

Mr Aizawa goes on to explain the importance of the sports festival, and how it helps the students of Yuuei. He's kind of intimidated now that he know just how important this is. Not that it's going to matter in the long run for him, but it's still imperative that he makes a good impression. Sensei and Shigaraki are for sure going to be watching to see how he does. Plus he no longer has a quirk to rely on, so it's going to be much harder for him.

Yaoyorozu and Kaminari also help by explaining how they get scouted. He momentarily wishes that he was in this to actually become a hero. This are all important things for being successful once they graduate. Er, well, when the others graduate at least. Izuku has a feeling he'll never get that far.

"That means you better not slack off on your training." Mr. Aizawa finishes.

They all respond with a "yes sir," and immediately break up to start talking to one another about it. Izuku mostly keeps to himself, still not feeling up to talking with the others very much. It would be bothersome if he exhausts himself during first period.

Unfortunately, Iida doesn't realize that as he stiffly walks up to him, looking somehow more serious than he usually does. Izuku smiles tiredly at him. "Oh hey Iida. Everyone's pretty fired up, huh."

Iida nods furiously. "Well of course we are! We enrolled at this school with the sole aim to become heroes!" He starts uncharacteristically swaying his hip while chopping at the air. "So naturally we'd be a little fired up."

"Wow Iida, those are some pretty interesting moves, ribbit." Asui says from across the room.

Iida points are him. "You've got to be excited too, right Midoriya?"

"Well, yeah of course," he lies, "but I'm also pretty nervous." At that's the truth.

"Izuku, Iida." A voice growls out from behind Iida. Iida moves out of the way while looking back to reveal a scary looking Uraraka. "Let's do our best at the sports festival."

Izuku, feeling a little intimidated, manages to stutter a few words out. "U-Uraraka, w-what happen t-to you're f-f-face?"

Mina pops out of nowhere. "Seriously, what's up? You're normally like the most laid back girl ever."

She shifts into an even more intimidating stance, and pumps her fists up into the air. "Everyone! I'M GONNA DO MY BEST!" She yells in a voice lower than her normal octave.

Iida cheers with her while he just weakly joins in to abate her. Mina and Asui cheer as well. She suddenly pivots to where the other students are watching and yell at them too. They return the favor with barely any enthusiasm. Seriously though, some of them groan so dramatically. It sounds like they're gonna hurl.

She continues to yell at them when they don't meet her expectations. This gets him to think about her motivation, which leads him to thinking about why she wants to be a hero. He actually doesn't know a lot about why his classmates want to become heroes. It's never really crossed his mind before. Sure Iida revealed his family's work and why he wants to become a hero, but that was right before the alarm sounded, so he didn't get around to thinking about it too much.

Making up his mind, he decides to talk to her about it during lunch._ Now doesn't seem to be the best time_, he thinks while looking at her. It almost looks as if smoke is coming off of her body as she yells at their fellow classmates.

_At least she isn't yelling at me like that_, he thinks with a shudder.

* * *

The time till lunch passes rather fast as the day goes on. Their classes seem to end in a blink and he finds himself having trouble remembering what happened in them. Luckily though, Iida seems happy to help, while lecturing him on the importance of paying attention in class of course.

Gathering up his supplies, he breathes a sigh of relief as Iida and Uraraka approach him. They happily pull him along as they walk to lunch. Izuku takes this opportunity to ask Uraraka his question.

"Hey, Uraraka?" He asks nervously.

"What's up!" She cheerily says.

"Um, why do you want to become a hero?"

She slows down at that, a sad "Oh," escaping her lips. Him and Iida slow down with her while trying not to block the stairway. "Well, heh heh," she says uncertainly, "I want to become a hero for the money."

"What?" He definitely wasn't expecting that. "You want to become a hero to get rich?"

A furious blush overtakes her face and she scratches nervously at her head, "If we're cutting to the chase, then yeah." She suddenly starts waving her hand in front of her. "I'm sorry if it sounds greedy! Iida, you have such admirable motivation, and I'm sure you do too, Izuku. I hope you don't think less of me now."

Iida steps forward. "Not at all! Your goal is to support your own wellbeing, which is a perfectly admirable ambition to have."

He hums in agreement. "Uh huh. It's just sort of surprising." It's true, he thought someone as bubbly as her would have something far more, well, _flashy_ as her goal. Not that money _isn't_ flashy, just not the kind he would think of for her.

She sighs and continues. "You see, my family owns a construction company, but we haven't gotten any work lately so we're flat broke." Oh, he can see where this is going now. "Anyway, this isn't something I usually tell to other people, but..."

Izuku nods and thinks through the situation. It makes sense, but surely Uraraka could help in other ways as well.

"Construction, eh?" Iida says while thinking.

An idea pops into his head and Izuku gasps. "Oh!" He turns to Iida, "I bet if she got licensed she could use her quirk to bring costs down a lot."

Iida nods. "And they could sell their heavy lifting equipment! She could float everything!"

Uraraka whips around a and points at them with finger guns. "I know, right?! I've been telling my dad that since I was a kid!" She looks to the side with a sad expression, "But, he wants me to follow my own path. He told me that's what would make them really happy." She adapts a determined expression. "I'm going to become a pro. I'll sign with a good agency and make plenty of money. Then I'll be able to let my parents live an easy life."

Izuku feels his heartstrings pull at this. Anyone's goals would be better than his at this point, but he did have dreams of becoming a hero once. And even then, he knew that her goals would be more grounded than his. His dream had been about saving others with a smile, but all she wants is to give back to her parents. It's one of the best goals one could possibly have.

Iida starts clapping. "That's beautiful! So noble! Bravo. Bravo!"

Uraraka looks surprised at first, but it breaks into a smile when she sees his positive reaction. Izuku gives her an encouraging smile and tries not to let his exhaustion show. That would be bad.

Trying to hurry things, Izuku breaks the moment somewhat regretfully. "Come on guys. We'd better hurry if we don't want to be late for lunch."

Iida and Uraraka nod and they continue on their way to the cafeteria. Uraraka looks much happier than before, and Izuku takes comfort in knowing he had a hand in that.

Tuesday might have been a terrible day, but he thinks he just might be able to recover. With friends like them, it will be hard not to.


	28. Chapter 28

"Hey Izuku." Uraraka's voice brings him out of his thoughts.

Turning his head towards her, he responds. "Yeah?"

She looks him in the eyes. "Why do _you_ want to become a hero?"

He immediately stiffens at this. Uraraka must see this because she begins to backtrack. "N-not that you have to tell me or anything! I was just wondering since you know our reasons and-"

"No no! It's fine!" Izuku interrupts. He quickly thinks of something to say. They look at him expectantly and he gulps. "I-it's nothing special, like you guys. I've just always wanted to be a hero, you know? Just saving people with a smile."

It's a lie. Wasn't when he was three years old, but that was thirteen years ago. A lot has changed since then.

He briefly wonders how much more he will have to lie to his friends for people he hates.

Iida loudly announces his approval. "That is a fine motivation! To want to save people is very heroic!"

Uraraka nods. "Yeah! That's like, heroing 101! Helping others."

A smile stretches across his face as they enter the cafeteria. A voice suddenly calls out to them. "Hey! Uraraka! Izuku!" They turn to see Mina waving happily at them, most of the girls from their class behind her. Oh, and Shouji and the tail guy too. Iida frowns.

Uraraka waves back and Izuku gives a small wave as well. "Hey guys!" Uraraka greets, "What's up?"

"Wanna sit with us? We've got plenty of seats." She motions towards a long table.

Uraraka glances back at them and Izuku nods along side Iida. She turns back to Mina with a smile, "Sure! That would be great!"

She starts to walk towards the table but Mina grabs her by the arm and drags her towards the lunch line. "Come on! You've gotta get _food_ first!" Asui joins them.

Izuku looks back to Iida in confusion while they start walking as well. "When have Uraraka and Mina started hanging out?"

Iida adjusts his glasses. "I believe you were in the infirmary when it happened, but they started talking to each other when they got into a debate over your quirk. Tsu got involved as well."

His face scrunches up even more. _His quirk?_ "What do you mean? How did they get into an argument over my quirk?" He tries to ignore the stinging from those words.

His friend looks up in thought. "Well, I do believe they were arguing over whether or not your paper creatures were sentient. It really is a good question. Are they?"

_Oh ok. We're going there._ "S-somewhat." He says. They stop in the lunch line. The three girls are right in front of them, talking away. "They are sentient enough to be capable of understanding instructions and can worry when I'm in trouble. They can also help me even when I don't ask them to. But they can't do much else on their own." _Besides keeping me company_, he thinks sadly. He stares at his feet while trying not to let the tears escape. It may sound a little dumb, but he considered some of them to almost be _friends_. God he misses them.

Iida nods once more, completely oblivious to his distress. "Ah, okay. You should tell them. They'd be happy to finally know that."

Izuku is momentarily confused, but then realizes he's talking about the girls. "R-right." He says, looking away.

They reach the end of the lunch line and get their food before heading back to the table. The others already have their food, some of them waiting while others are eating. Mina, Uraraka, and Asui sit down across from where the tail guy and Hagakure are chatting. Shouji is sitting next to them, but not really talking, and Momo is sitting near the end of the table.

His eyes glance around at the table and he shifts nervously from foot to foot, not really sure as to where he should sit. Thankfully Uraraka looks back from her conversation to Izuku and pats the area next to her. He relaxes slightly in relief and takes the seat. Unfortunately there's not quite enough room for Iida to sit down too, so he takes the seat on the other side. It's right to Momo.

She smiles at Iida as he sits down next to her and greets him. He returns it and Momo is looking at him. "Hello Midoriya."

"Hi, M-Momo." He says, a little hesitant in using her first name even though she gave them permission. Her smile just grows wider.

Izuku glances around once more, taking in who's there. "Where Kirishima?"

"I think him, Sero and Kaminari are off bothering Bakugou. I honestly have to wonder why they even try."

Izuku's eyebrows furrow. "So Sero's joined them too?"

Momo nods solemnly.

A beeping noise draws their attention and Izuku notices for the first the kettle looking thing sitting on the table in front of her. There's steam coming out of the top. She presses a button and looks at him. "I've made some tea, do you want some?"

Izuku smiles at her and shakes his head, "N-no. You made that for yourself. I would feel bad if I took it."

"Nonsense. I made plenty, and it's for everyone, not just me."

Well, Izuku can't argue with that, so he agrees. She pulls tea cups out of her bag(he wonders how they didn't break), and starts pouring tea into them. Everyone at the table ends up with a cup of tea.

Izuku takes a sip and he nearly drops his cup in surprise. He... didn't expect for tea to taste so good.(No, he's never had tea before. It's a luxury and luxuries are waaay out of his budget) He looks up at Momo, who's enjoying her own cup, and says, "Thank you."

She glances at him and raises her eyebrow. She must see something in his expression because she asks, "Have you never had tea before?"

He shakes his head, eyes wide. "It's amazing." He whispers.

Momo smiles brightly at him. "Your welcome, then. I'll make you more tea sometime."

Guilt immediately crush's him. "Oh! You don't have to. I don't want you to feel like you have to."

She just shakes her head. "I would love to. Tea is one of my passions, and I love sharing and talking about the many different kinds with others."

The guilt rises and he nods slowly. "Then, yeah. I would like that."

Momo visibly gets excited "Great! I can bring some tomorrow too. I'll bring a different kind and we as we go we can see which ones are your favorite. I can't wait for you to try out my favorites." She calms down after moment, regaining her usual composure. "Sorry, I tend to get a little it's exited when it comes to tea."

Iida suddenly speaks up. "Tea can also be very good for you. Especially herbal teas. They can lower blood pressure and doesn't have nearly as much caffeine as coffee."

Momo nods and soon enough they're in a deep conversation about the benefits of drinking tea. Izuku just takes another sip of his tea before digging into his lunch. He hasn't eaten for a while so he's absolutely starving. He's been hungrier before, of course, but the food here is absolutely delicious and he finds himself plowing through his food.

The rest of lunch is pretty boring, and he keeps to himself for the most part. Everyone around him seem to already be in conversations and he doesn't want to butt in.

After lunch they go back to their classes and he gets through them better than before. He manages to pay attention and take notes. Iida seems to notice as well and praises him between classes.

Even though the classes feel longer, the end of the day arrives before he knows it. They all gather their things and leave. Er, well, try to leave, that is. As soon as Uraraka opens the door they are stopped by a crowd of students. Izuku can only guess they're from the other classes.

Uraraka steps back. "Why the heck are you all here?!"

Iida's hand chops the air. "Do you students have some sort of business with our class?"

"Why are you blocking out doorway? I won't let you hold us hostage!" Izuku winces. _Mineta_.

"They're scouting out the competition, idiot. We're the class that survived real villains." Bakugou walks straight up to them. "At least now you know what a future pro looks like, now move it extras."

Uraraka and him just splutter and stare at the blonde while Iida angrily chops at the air. "You can't just go around calling people extras just because you don't know who they are!"

"So this is class 1-a." Someone pushes forward through the crowd. "I heard you guys are impressive. You just sound like an ass. Is everyone in the hero course delusional, or just you?" A purple-haired students steps out. He looks like he hasn't slept in days.

"I wanted to be in the hero course, but like many others here I was forced to choose a different track. Such is life. I didn't cut it the first time around, but I have another chance." Bakugou stares at him, unimpressed. "If any of us do well in the sports festival the teachers can decide to transfer us to the hero course. And they'll have to transfer people out to make room." Everyone stiffens at that, the tension rising.

His eyes roam over them. "Scouting the competition, maybe some of my peers are, but I'm here to tell you that if you don't do your best I'll steal your spot right from under you. Consider this a declaration of war."

Where did this guy even come from?

Bakugou and the purple-haired guy just stare at each other.

Suddenly a silver-haired students starts yelling at them. "You! I'm from class 1-b next door to you! I heard you fought some villains and I've come to see if that's true! But you're just a bunch of brats who think you're better than us!"

Bakugou just walks into the crowd, unfazed.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

Kirishima calls out to Bakugou. "Dude, where are you going?! Say something! It's your fault they're all hating on us Bakugou."

Surprisingly enough, Bakugou stops and looks back. "These people don't matter."

"Huh?"

"The only thing that's important is that I beat them." And with that he leaves.

"Hey! I'm coming for you!"

They all ignore the silver-haired dude and turn to themselves. Kirishima closes his eyes and clenches his fist in frustration. "Gr, I hate that that was such a manly exit."

"You said it."

"You have to bait them," Tokoyami says, "he wasn't wrong."

Kaminari looks at them. "Yeah, but this sucks." Izuku silently agrees with that. "He made us everyone's enemy."

"Yeah, that's right!" Mineta yells. "Students will be gunning for us in the festival."

Izuku hates the fact that he's not wrong.

The students crowding the doorway begin to disperse and their class is finally free to leave. Uraraka and Iida try to pull him with them but he stops them. "You guys can leave if you want, but I promised Todoroki I'd talk to him after school." They look surprised but leave him alone. They tell him they'll wait for him at the front door and leave.

Once everyone leaves, he takes a deep breath and turns to where Todoroki is waiting.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"


	29. Chapter 29

**Warning! This chapter is mostly Tododeku. It doesn't contain any romance like kissing and stuff, but I just thought I'd warn those of you who don't like the ship. You can skip it if you want.**

* * *

Looking at Izuku's expectant face nearly causes Todoroki's resolve to come undone. He's a bundle of nerves right now and he can't help but fear what Izuku will think of him once he tells him.

It's not like it's some horrible secret, like for example being an undercover spy for a group of villains, but having an abusive father who's also the number 2 hero is close enough.

Maybe he should just back out. Izuku's a nice person, he would understand.

Right?

Closing his eyes, Todoroki forces those thoughts out of his head. He doesn't need them. Emotions just get in the way. Besides, why is he getting so fluttered? Just because he's never told anyone about his situation doesn't mean that he can go losing his cool.(Especially in front of someone he _may_ like. That's just a maybe though, so he won't go and jump to conclusions)

But maybe it wouldn't hurt to retain some information.

Opening his eyes again, he glances to the side. "Have you ever heard about quirks marriages?"

Izuku stays silent and Todoroki takes that as a _no_. "They became a problem once superpowers became were those who sought out potential mates solely with the purpose of creating powerful children."

His hand curled into a fist. "Many people were forced into relationships. They were simply viewed as old fashioned arranged marriages. But clearly it was unethical."

Todoroki finally finds his nerve and looks Izuku straight in the eye. "My father has a long line of achievements and plenty of money to throw at his problems. He has a fire quirk, and he bought my mother's family to get his hands on her quirk, an ice quirk. You see, he's a hero who wants to be number one, but he's not powerful enough to do it himself, so he's raising me to take All Might's place.

Izuku gasps in front of him, eyes blown wide in shock. "B-but that's just-just-just so wrong!" He stutters out. "Why would anyone do that to their own child?!"

Todoroki just shakes his head, really not wanting to say this next part, but forcing himself to nonetheless. "I refuse to be his tool. In every memory of my mother, I only see her crying. I remember she called my left side unbearable, before she poured boiling water on my face." Anger and fear shroud that memory, seeping out and infecting his mind. He lifts his hand up to his eye to cover the scar around his eye. For some reason it grounds him from the old emotions.

"For this reason, among others, I have chosen not to use my left side. I will show him that I can be number one with his power." Feeling satisfied with his little speech, Todoroki goes to finish it up.

"That's what I wanted to tal-"

"It's not his power," Izuku cuts him off, "it's yours."

He says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world, like what he's saying is the absolute truth. But it can't be.

_He doesn't understand_.

"You do know what you're talking about. You couldn't possibly know-"

"I know." Izuku interrupts again. His face is knitted together in barely hidden anger. "Don't assume things you don't know."

Todoroki is taken aback. "W-Wha-?"

"Of course it's not his power. He's not the once who controls it. You are. So that means you're responsible for it. What happens when you need to use it? When you're forced to?" Izuku just starts ranting. "You'll have no control of it! What if you hurt innocent people?!"

His face suddenly softens. "You can be the number one hero if you set your mind to it, no matter what your powers are. But is it what you really want? Are going to be happy as the number one hero? Or are you doing this just to spite your father?"

Todoroki's brain suddenly short circuits.

Is he really doing all of this just because of his father? Does he really have that much control over him?

_Is my power really my own?_ A voice whispers in the back of his head.

"I-I-I-" He doesn't know _what_ to think. Every time he tries to gain control over his own mind again, memories of his mother assault him. Memories of how she spoke to him in the most loving manner. Memories that have been long since lost until now.

He doesn't know how long he's trapped inside his own head, but once his mind settles down he finds himself sitting at a desk. Izuku is sitting across from him in the next isle looking incredibly awkward.

Todoroki doesn't quite know what to say, so he just lets out a pathetic, "Um..."

Izuku's head snaps up to look at him and he slumps forward nervously. "I-I'm sorry if I overstepped your boundaries or was insensitive. I'm not really used to these things and I can get a little emotional. Heh heh."

Shaking his head, he says, "Not at all. I'm not really used to these things either." They share a moment of silence.

"Anyway, that's kind of the reason of why I wanted to share all this with you in the first place."

"Huh?" Is all Izuku responds with.

Throughout this entire conversation Todoroki has carefully kept his face carefully blank, but now he lets a small smile creep into his face. "You asked, earlier, how you've effected me. Well, the answer is, you just did."

Izuku's brain seems to just shut down and he looks completely dumbfounded.

His smile inches wider. Looks like my job is done here.

Gathering his bag from the floor, Todoroki turns and starts walking towards the door. "W-Wait!" Izuku calls out to behind him. "Y-you can't just _leave_!"

"Yes I can."

"_Todoroki_!"

* * *

Not thinking about what Todoroki said is proving to be very difficult. He only gives in when he closes his bedroom door behind him. Hiding his face in his hands, his back slides down his door until he's sitting on the ground with his knees against his chest.

Groaning, he doesn't fight the blush as it burns at his face. He can't help it. Everything about that conversation was just so... unexpected.

Todoroki acted completely out of character, but then again he doesn't know him that well. Maybe something like that is normal for him. Izuku certainly wouldn't know.

Trying to turn his thoughts away from his the strangeness that is Todoroki, he thinks about his father. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who his dad is. His dad is the number two hero, Endeavor. They have the same last name after all, and everyone knows Endeavor hates All Might. Everything lined up perfectly. Though that information about his mother is new. He groans again. He'll have to add that to his journal.

Forcing himself up, he grabs his notebook and pencil from his backpack. Laying down on his bed, he opens the notebook to Todoroki's page and starts scribbling down the information. He filled in all the information he'd gathered from the USJ incident yesterday, so once he finishes he has some free time.

Closing the notebook, he sets it back into his backpack and rolls out of his bed. He takes a moment to ponder on what to do now. Having already finished all of his homework in class, he really has nothing to do.

His mind wanders to the sports festival and he makes up his mind. He'll train! He doesn't exactly have a quirk right now, so he'll have to rely on his body if he wants to do well. While his body is by no means weak, he still has a long ways to go. He's relied a lot on his quirk for a while now, so he has to make up for his lack in strength and endurance.

But he really doesn't feel like going and asking Shigaraki for some training equipment. He may feel better, but not _that_ better. just then an idea suddenly hits him.

He pulls his blanket off of the mattress and folds it neatly next to his backpack. Then he flips the mattress onto its side so that it's standing up against the wall. There's now a decent amount of room for his training.

Grinning, Izuku walks to the middle of the room and starts stretching.

* * *

The cold air bites at his skin as he aims at the target. Raising his right arm, ice bursts from the ground and heads in a beeline straight for the target. In the blink of an eye it's completely obliterated.

Huffing, Todoroki lowers his arm to his side. His right side feels completely frozen over and his body is screaming at him to rest.

His breaths come in rapid puffs and a thin coat of sweat covers his entire body. It makes his clothes stick to his skin and it is in no way helping with the chilliness.

Giving in, he walks over to one of the benches the training room offers and sits down. Taking a few sips of the water bottle he brought with him, he leans back into the wall and closes his eyes.

As his body rests, his mind preoccupies itself with what Izuku had said to him earlier. Frowning, he opens his eyes and looks at his left hand. There's absolutely nothing abnormal about it. It's just his hand, his _left_ hand. His hand curls into a fist underneath his glare.

_It's your power._

His frown deepens. He may have been provoking Izuku earlier, but what he said has really stuck with him. Whether he wants it to or not.

Hesitantly, he slowly activates his left side. His hand gets warmer and warmer while the aches in his right side fade slightly. He opens up his hand and concentrates. A small flame appears in the center of his palm.

A flash of his mother's horrified face immediately causes him to extinguish the flame. Frustration takes hold and he quickly stands up. Spinning around he slams a fist into the wall, creating a small dent where his fist is.

The frustration fades and he removes his hand. Staring at it, he sighs. Punching walls isn't going to solve his problem, he needs to go to the source.

He immediately cringes at that thought. He hasn't seen her since _that_ incident. Plus he should spend all of his time and focus on training.

_What if you hurt innocent people?!_

Grimacing, he straightens. After the sports festival then. He'll talk to her then.

Figuring he's given himself enough time to rest, he turns back to the targets. Walking back over he settles into a battle stance. Ice erupts from the ground and obliterates all of the targets.


	30. Chapter 30

-1week later-

It's been... a lot easier to hide his sudden quirklessness than he thought it would be. Apparently the excuse, "I don't want to rely on it" is acceptable enough to get him through every training period they've had so far.

Was he really that physically incompetent before? If so, why didn't anyone say anything? This is honestly kind of insulting.

"Time's up."

Izuku pauses from punching the punching bag and looks iver his shoulder to where Mr. Aizawa is staring at his phone. The other students pause as well.

Kaminari is the first to start forward. "Whoo! This was fun and all, but I can't wait to go back to class."

The rest of them follow suit and soon enough everyone is leaving the USJ and getting onto the bus.

Climbing the stairs, he looks around and sees Uraraka and Iida chatting in one of the rows. He's about to go over to them when someone grabs his arm.

Yelping, he's pulled onto one of the seats lining the side of bus. Asui is sitting right next to him, hand on his arm.

"O-oh hey T-Tsu." He says nervously, "W-what's up?"

She hmm's and then says, "Not much, I just wanted to see how you're doing. I've noticed you haven't been using your quirk."

Izuku laughs nervously. "I-I've been doing great! And about my q-quirk, this past week I've been training my body to get stronger so I don't have to rely on it so much. It won't be of much use during the sports festival anyways."

Asui tilts her head, "Why's that? Ribbit."

He scratches the back of his head. "Well, I can't exactly bring paper with me into the sports festival, not without a lot of paperwork at least. Hero course students aren't allowed to bring stuff to the festival without it being cleared by one of the teachers."

Asui looks up thoughtfully, "That makes sense, I guess."

"Yeah, it wouldn't exactly be fair to the other classes." Izuku agrees.

Silence reigns as the last of the students board the bus as it starts moving. Their other classmates are chatting to each other and ignoring the two completely, leaving them to come up with something themselves.

Suddenly something pop into his mind and shifts so that he's facing Asui more. "So you, Uraraka and Mina have been talking a lot."

Asui seems surprised at the topic, but then nods. "Yup. Mina was really the one to start talking to each of us and things just went from there. It's kind of nice, ribbit. I didn't really have a lot of friends at my old school."

Izuku blinks, surprised. "Really? I would've thought you'd have lots of friends."

She shakes her head. "No. I had to focus most of my time on studying and taking care of my siblings, ribbit. I never had the time to stay after school and make friends."

This threw Izuku for a loop. "Wait, where are your parents?" He may not have any experience with parents himself, but he thought they were supposed to take care of their kids, not the kids themselves.

Asui looks kind of uncomfortable, but she continues anyway. "My parents travel a lot for work, so they aren't home most of the time. So it falls upon me to look after my younger siblings."

Is that what all parents are like? No, he knows he's heard of other parents looking after their kids. Maybe they're just in a unique situation, like he is. Still, he wants to ask.

Lowering his voice he leans closer to her. "Um, is that a common thing? Or is that just happening to you?"

Asui looks at him in confusion and surprise, but then understanding crosses her face. "No," she croaks out, "it's not a common thing. Most parents stay home and take care of their kids, but I'm not the only one in this situation. It's kind of complicated, ribbit."

Izuku lowers his head in thought, "I think I understand. Most kids have their parents to look after them, but not everyone is the same. I know that. So some kids have the same situation, and I'm guessing some have it worse too."

Asui nods, "Like you."

Heat roses to his face and he quickly hiss it with his hands. "Not so loud! There are other people!"

Asui hums, "None of them are paying attention to us, and we're almost to the school anyway."

Izuku curls into himself, embarrassment tugging at his guts, "Still! What if they were?"

"They weren't, ribbit." Asui replies.

He doesn't know how to respond to that, but luckily the bus stops right at that moment, giving Izuku an out. Uncovering his face, a blush still dusting his cheeks, he faces Asui. "O-oh, well it been nice talking to you, T-Tsu."

She nods. "Likewise."

By this point everyone is crowding towards the front so Izuku quickly tries to leave through a gap, but Asui stops him. "Remember, ribbit, I'm watching." She lets go and slips past him and off the bus.

Izuku gulps and hesitantly follows. Her comment makes him nervous for some reason. He knows how to hid his wounds from watchful eyes, has had it drilled into him, but some part of him truely believes that she'll be able to spot anything, no matter how well he hides it. It's _really_ making him nervous.

Thank god nobody's found out the real reason he can't use his quirk. It's the small things in life that one must appreciate.

Then again, having your quick taken away is a pretty out there theory.

Stepping off the bus, he looks around once more, finding Asui chatting innocently with Mina and Hagakure. He looks away and walks forward to allow other students off the bus and ends up standing near the edge of the group. The others all seem to be happy talking to each other so he just decides to pass the time by touching up his mental schedule for the next week. In order to perform his best at the school festival, he has to constantly be on top of his training. Like Mr. Aizawa said, slacking off is not an option.

"Alright class, you can go back inside now." Came the deadpan voice of Mr. Aizawa.

They all go inside and gather up their things. There's a few minutes left until the bell rings, so Izuku takes out his notebook and turns to a random page. He lands on Bakugou's. Raising and eyebrow, he shrugs it off and picks up his pencil.

Touching up the details on Bakugou's profile, not really having anything better to do, he completely zoned out. He almost misses the ringing of the bell and has to quickly shove his pencil and notebook back into his backpack. Zipping it up, he quickly joins the students trying to leave, but because of his delay, ends up near the very back. Even from here he can see the already congested hallway.

He huffs. _How do people get out of their classrooms so fast?_

Eventually he makes it out and tries not to get trampled on his way to his next class. Thankfully his entire class is in front of him so they mostly clear the way of oncoming traffic. Other students push at his back and sides though, making him almost fall multiple times.

They make it to the classroom and he breaths a sigh of relief that he didn't die. They cross the hall to file in, creating a traffic jam and he almost dies when most of the class is inside and students push their way past him.

Getting inside the classroom, he takes a moment to steady himself and make sure that he didn't get any injuries after that stampede. Sometimes he just has to make sure.

Afterwards he makes his way over to his desk, not even noticing how some of his classmates glance at him. Sitting down, he leans back and relaxes.

Class starts soon after the bell rings and he puts all of his focus into taking notes. It's one of the only things he's good at, after all.

* * *

Shutting the door behind him, he trudges to his room, feet scuffing the wooden floor. He almost makes it when Shigaraki appears from the shadowy hallway. He has the hand on his face.

"Hello, Izu." He says creepily.

Izuku freezes. "T-Tou-nii." He greets. "Do you, um, need something?" He really hopes not.

"Hmm, I don't," he says and Izuku nearly sages in relief, "but Sensei does."

Izuku feels flood his veins. "W-What does S-Sensei want with m-me?"

Shigaraki scoffs. "How would I know?"

He just shrugs.

The pale male looks away, obviously annoyed. "Annoying little brat." He says under his breath.

Izuku starts shuffling towards his room, only a few paces away. "Weeelll, I'm just gonna put my stuff dooo-oh!"

A yelp escapes him as Shigaraki wraps three fingers around his arm and tugs him towards the bar. "Oh no you don't. You're talking to him right now."

"But don't I need to go to the television room?!"

"Nope."

They stop in front a small television that Izuku had seen the recruits watching the news on before. Glancing around, Izuku notices that Kurogiri is minding the bar as usual, not even glancing up at them, and Shigaraki is looking at the tv screen expectantly, fingers still gripping Izuku's arm.

Izuku is just standing there awkwardly, not really knowing what he is supposed to be doing.

All of a sudden the screen comes to life, the out line of a person just visible beyond the static. "Shigaraki." It says. And Izuku's jaw nearly drops, because that is _Sensei's voice. _How come they never told him they could do this?! This is very important!

Shigaraki looks very happy as he responds. "Father." he says. And This surprises Izuku. He's never heard any of Shigaraki's conversations with Sensei before. Has he always called him father?

The figure that he now knows is Sensei shifts slightly. "Izuku." He says in a disappointed tone. As if Izuku didn't even deserve to have his name spoken aloud.

Izuku nods, taking the insult in stride. "S-Sensei."

"Hmm, straighten up, boy. If you're going to talk, don't stutter like an illiterate child." Venom laces his voice and Izuku quickly obeys.

Fixing the slump in his shoulders he lifts his head, but not too much now. That could be seen as rebellious. "Yes sir."

Seemingly satisfied for now, Sensei continues. "I've come to realize that hiding your quirklessness for the rest of your time at Yuuei would be... problematic. So I've come up with a proposition." Izuku feels hope rise in his chest and he unconsciously leans forward.

"Due to concerns I've had, I've decided that if you do well in the sports festival, you will show me your notes on your classmates and teachers at Yuuei. If they are satisfactory, I shall give you your quirk back."

Izuku's heart practically soars out of his chest. He can get his quirk back! But then it faltered and comes crashing back down. In order to get it back, he'll actually have to do well in the sports festival. And as a quirkless student no less. What Sensei is asking of him will be nearly impossible.

"That is all." The screen turns black.

Shigaraki chuckles from beside him and Izuku notices that at some point he had let go of his arm. "You really are in a pickle, aren't you? I'll enjoy watching you get torn to shreds."

Anger overflows from his chest and he glares at Shigaraki. In that moment he promises to himself that he will prove Shigaraki wrong, that he will prove everyone wrong. Just because he is quirkless doesn't mean he will let everyone trample all over him.

With his mind made up, he turns away from Shigaraki and walks determinedly towards his room. Shigaraki is laughing behind him as he walks away. "What's the matter Izu? Are you going to cry? That's all you've ever been, a crybaby. You've always cried too much. Only weaklings cry."

Izuku doesn't say a word. Instead of the tears he expects to come to his eyes, his fists clench and a fire rages inside of him. He _will_ get his quirk back.

_**No matter what.**_

-1 week later-

"Hey Izuku!"

He turns and sees Uraraka walk up to him. He's just entered the gate so he's surprised Uraraka was able to spot him so fast.

"Hello." He greets awkwardly.

She grabs him by the arm and starts tugging him forward. "Come on! The class is waiting!"

It turns out that Kirishima was right when he was talking about this becoming a daily thing. Every day since then they've waited for everyone to get here and they all go up as a class. It's actually quite nice. Some of his classmates are saying that it makes them feel included and part of the class. Izuku personally finds that strange, _but to each their own, I guess._

Everyone waves as he comes closer and he shyly waves back. About half the class is here, so he will have to wait a while before they go up. Which is perfectly fine to him, it doesn't make much of a difference, but he just worries sometimes if they will be late because they do this. But it's not like Mr. Aizawa can punish all of them, right?

...Actually, he doesn't want to know the answer to that.

Shaking that thought from his head, he greets his classmates when they arrive and soon gets swept up into the many conversations going on. He smiles, he likes the casual talk he has with his classmates. It makes him feel normal. It's strange, really. He's never gotten to just be normal before.

He decides he likes it.

They go up to the classroom and they enter the room. Mr. Aizawa isn't there yet, so they just do what they usually do and sit down in their assigned seats. Nobody talks to him as he sits down so he just pulls out his notebook again. He flips to a random page and nearly groans when he lands on Bakugou.

Again?!

He's been landing on Bakugou a lot this past week. It's almost as if his notebook is trying to tell him something.

Which is completely ridiculous. It's a notebook.

Staring down at the almost filled page, he ponders on what he could put down this time. Almost all of the information he knows is down already, and his picture is practically perfect.

Bakugou's is currently talking to Kirishima and Sero about something, most likely the sports festival. He's just half heartily listening when he hears Bakugou call Kirishima "hair-for-brains." Blinking, Izuku suddenly remembers that Bakugou has names for almost all of their class. And as much as he hates to admit it, the nicknames Bakugou's created for their classmates has kind of stuck. Sometimes Izuku almost calls people by the names. Not that he wants to! They just are so physically fitting that sometimes the nicknames stick more than their actual names.

It may not be important, but it's something he hasn't already written down, so he might as well.

Writing down the nicknames, he takes a moment to admire how absurd some of them are. One of the weirdest ones is raccoon eyes. It's for Mina, and he can tell why Bakugou chose that name, but still. Raccoon eyes?

He's just writing down the last one(he filled in the ones he didn't know as extra. It's seems to be what Bakugou calls most people who don't get a special nickname.) when the bell rings and Mr. Aizawa walks in, bandages still covering his entire face. Honestly, Izuku has gotten more used to the bandages than he has his actual face. It's kind of weird. Everyone falls quiet in anticipation.

"As I'm sure all of you know, the sports festival is today."

"How could you not know?" Kaminari interrupts. "People from all over Japan are crowding the front gates. We could barely get through ourselves!"

Many of their classmates mumble in agreement but Mr. Aizawa just ignores him. "In a few minutes we will head down to the first year stadium. There you will change into your gym uniforms and wait for the festival to start. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!"

He nods. "Good. We'll be leaving soon. Do whatever til then. Just don't wake me up." And with that he disappears behind his podium to presumably nap in his sleeping bag.

And Izuku waits.

* * *

The inside of the locker rooms are exactly like the ones in the school building. Which actually makes more sense than if they were different. He doesn't know why he was expecting them to be different.

Discreetly changing into his gym uniform, he goes into the 1-a waiting room where everyone who is finished changing is waiting for the festival to start. Mina is complaining about not being able to wear her costume and Shouji, Sato and Fukuyama are talking. Izuku wanders around, not really having any destination in mind and ends up in the middle of the waiting room.

Iida bursts into the room. "Attention everyone! The tournament is about to begin. We'll be going out into the arena soon."

Beside him, Mineta is trying to not freak out and he would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous as well.

"Midoriya." Shocked, Izuku looks up and makes eye contact with Todoroki's heterochromatic eyes.

"Y-yes Todoroki? Do you need something?" Izuku asks nervously.

Then Todoroki surprises them all by holding out his hand. "I just want to wish you luck in the tournament."

Izuku stares at the hand for a moment, surprise making him hesitate, but then he smiles. Taking the hand and shaking it, he says, "Thanks! You too."

Todoroki looks surprised, but then shakes his head. He turns away without another word and Izuku is left to stare at his back as he walks away. Izuku feels confused at his actions, but then happiness feels his body and he calls out to Todoroki. "Do your best! I'll be aiming for the top, so you better not fail before we fight!"

The dual haired teen continues on as if he didn't hear Izuku, but Izuku swears he saw him hesitate for just a moment. Smiling to himself, Izuku feels the nervousness melt out of his body, a blinding happiness replacing it.

The moment is quickly over though when Iida bursts into the room again. "It's time!"


	31. Chapter 31

Looking out at the stadium of people, Izuku couldn't help but feel nervous. Getting past the first two rounds hadn't been easy, but he had managed. It still amazes him at how Tokoyami had helped them reach the finals. He really should have known that Todoroki wouldn't be as stupid as to leave the ten million on top.

Shaking his head, he tried getting his mind back on the situation at hand. Right now, all of the eighteen students who made it to the finals are gathered in front of the stage while Present Mike is saying something about recreational activities. He doesn't really care about that, he just wants to know what the finals are going to be all about.

"Come closer and draw lots to see who you're up against." Midnight says once Present Mike is done. "Then enjoy the pleasure of the recreational games before we start." She then went on to explain what we could do afterwards. Izuku personally doesn't plan on joining the games. If he wants to do his best, he'll need to save his energy and come up with a plan.

They are about to go up when Ojiro(Izuku _finally_ remembers his name) raises his hand. "Um, excuse me." The tailed hero looks very nervous and Izuku can see the sweat on his face. "Sorry, but I'm withdrawing."

Everyone gasps at that and Izuku almost says something, but holds his tongue at the last second. Iida speaks in his place. "But this is a rare chance for you to get scouted."

"It just wouldn't be right," what does he mean by that? "I barely remember anything from the Calvert battle until the very end of it."

This makes Izuku pause. What does he mean by that? Was he hit by someone's quirk? But then how did he pass?

It's just not adding up.

"I...think it was that guy's quirk." He gestures toward a purple haired dude. Something about this student strikes Izuku as familiar, but he just can't put his finger on it. Then it comes to him. Declaration of war guy! The one that came up to them two weeks ago and threatened them. This was that guy. Izuku is kind of surprised that he made it this far. Don't judge a book by its cover, he supposes.

"I know this is a great opportunity," Ojiro says, "I wish I could take advantage of it, but my conscious won't let me."

Izuku can't believe what he's hearing. How can _anyone_ turn down an opportunity like this? "Just-think about this-"

"I have, okay?!" He sounds angry. "Everyone gave it their all in round two, but I was just someone's puppet. No way. I don't want to advance if I don't even know how I got here. It wouldn't be fair."

Izuku suddenly realizes where Ojiro is coming from. Of course, he wants to win just as much as anyone else here. But unlike Izuku, who's just been focused on winning, he also wants to win fairly. He won't take the easy road even if it's just been handed to him.

For some reason, that sounds weird to him, but looking around he can tell from the other's reactions that it's not weird. In fact, they look almost proud, in a strange sort of way. It's not that weird of a concept, he realizes. Growing up around criminals who have always exploited those kinds of things, Izuku has never really thought that there was another way. He's always had to come up with own ideals and morals growing up, as he didn't want to be anything like his kidnappers, but there are just some things that got imprinted onto him despite that. Frustration grows in his stomach, but he quickly pushes it down.

Thinking back to his own reason for wanting to win, he feels kind of guilty now. Izuku has been so focused on getting his quirk back, he's failed to see all those who have helped him get this far. Without Tokoyami, or Uraraka or Mei, he wouldn't even be here.

That's the importance of being a hero, he thinks. A real hero doesn't focus on what they want and what they'll gain from it, but they always focus on others. A real hero never gives in to their own selfish desires.

He can't believe he forgot that. Sure he's been surrounded by villains practically his whole life, but he's always wanted to help others, no matter the cost. Growing up the way he has is no excuse for forgetting what his mother taught him all that time ago.

With newfound confidence, Izuku tunes back into the real world and finds that the conversation is practically over. Class 1-A is surrounding Ojiro, saying words of encouragement.

He smiles at all of them and then turns and leaves. Another student follows him and Izuku can only guess it's for the same reason.

Turning around, he sees Midnight looking around the crowd of students. "Now let's see, we'll have to move up two students from the 5th place Calvary team so we have enough contestants."

A ginger haired girl, apparently from said 5th place team, shakes her head. "Hm, we were frozen most of the time. Honestly, we barely did anything in the Calvert battle." She looks at one of the girls behind her. "Isn't that right?" She turns her head to look at the other two. "Girls?" They all nod and she looks back at Midnight. "You should choose from a team who kept on fighting the whole time."

"Team Testutestu." Izuku glances around and sees a group behind them that looks surprised. Their leader is a white haired guy with weird spiky stuff around his eyes. He leans forward. "Kendo!" He yells.

The now named Kendo looks at him calmly. "I'm not doing this as a favor. It's just fair."

The white haired guy looks stunned, and Izuku can't really blame him. It honestly surprises him how much the other students care about fairness and each other. Is he the only one who's never realized this? Is he that out of the loop?

"Seriously you guys," he gets all tense before exploding, "THANK YOUUUUU!"

The group turn to each other and start talking. Izuku can't hear them, but one of them says something to the white haired guy and a girl who has vines instead of hair. The white haired guy bursts into tears and the two step back from the other two. The guy asks them something and the others just smile at them.

With the two replacements seemingly picked, Midnight continues on with her speech. "And so Testutestu and Shiozaki advance to the finals."

After everyone draws lots, Midnight points to a screen. She explains who each of their opponents are going to be, and Izuku takes a look at who his opponent is.

"Shinso. I wonder who that is." He mutters to himself. As far as he knows, Shinso isn't in their class or the other hero class(he read over who was in the hero course), so he must be in one of the classes. Still, he must be good to make it this far.

Izuku also notices something, they're the first battle. His nerves instantly attack him and his hands start shaking slightly. He thought that he might get a little break to watch the other fights and come up with a strategy, but it seems like he won't even get that.

As if mocking him, he also notices that even if he wins against this mystery opponent, he'll be going against Todoroki. Even if he had his quirk, that battle would be nearly impossible.

Calming himself down doesn't seem to be helping, and his nervousness just sinks deeper into his bones. His panic doesn't seem to be going away on its own, and he can barely drag himself out of his head. With all of this going on, he doesn't notice the figure come up behind him.

"This is you, right? Izuku Midoriya?"

Izuku jumps, completely thrown out of his thoughts, and spins around. The purple haired student from earlier is standing there, just looking at him with a bored expression. Izuku opens his mouth to respond, but then hesitates, suddenly remembering a crucial detail. Not a second later, something blonde comes out of nowhere and covers his mouth. It takes a moment for him to recognize it as Ojiro's tail.

"Not so fast." Ojiro says behind him.

The purple haired student, Izuku can guess it's Shinso, smirks. Without saying another words, he turns and walks away.

Ojiro's tail uncovers his mouth and Izuku looks at him. "Ojiro-" he begins, but stops when he sees his face. Ojiro looks _angry_ like he's never seen before. And that's saying something.

His tail sways behind him as Ojiro says, "you can't say a word to him."

_Interesting._

"What do you mean?" Izuku asks. As always, Izuku's mind instantly goes to gathering more information.

Ojiro shakes his head. "I'll tell to you more in private. I will be able to explain best when we're alone."

Izuku nods in understanding. That makes sense. Present Mike announces the beginning of the events and they walk towards the exit to find some Hager's more quiet.

Finding an empty waiting room, they have a long talk.

* * *

Walking onto the field, Izuku can practically feel his knees knocking together as he walks toward the stage. His earlier nervousness was nothing compared to the anxiety he is feeling. The talk with Ojiro has done nothing to help his nerves, the depth of just how wrong this can go has just made him even more worried. Though, at least he now knows of a way to defeat Shinso. Just don't talk.

That should be easy. Izuku is a quiet person anyways, and though he does have his moments of muttering, this should be easy...right?

Present Mike's voice booms across the stadium. "Woah," he laughs, "he looks kind of scared in that picture doesn't he?" Izuku tries not to blush. "It's Izuku Midoriya from the hero course."

"Verses," Izuku listens closely, "Hitoshi Shinso from General Studies, who really hasn't done anything to stand out yet." Izuku almost laughs at that.

"The rules are simple," he continues, "immobilize your opponent or force them out of the ring!" Present Mike sounds way too into this. "You can also win by getting the other person to cry uncle."

By this point, Izuku is standing face to face with Shinso. His nerves which had been slowly calming down during the walk suddenly comes back with a vengeance. He tries not to show it, but the thousands of people staring him down, plus his own stresses, is causing him to tremble like a newborn baby.

"Bring on the injuries because we've got our very own Recovery Girl on standby. So put your morals aside and don't Elbe afraid to play dirty." Are they really telling us that? "But of course, no life threatening crap folks, that's not allowed. Real heroes throw villains in jail, not kill them."

Cementoss suddenly speaks. "I'll stop anyone who gets too rough."

Taking a deep breath in, Izuku tries calming his nerves one last time. Releasing it, he can feel his tense muscles relax just a little bit.

"So you can just give up, huh?"

Startled, Izuku looks up to see Shinso completely calm. He doesn't look worried in the slightest.

"In a way, this is a test to see how strong your spirit is. If you know what you want your future to hold for you, you can't worry about what other people think." Present Mike is counting down to the start of the battle, but Izuku mostly ignores it.

"That monkey was going on about his pride earlier." Something about the way he says that bugs him. "But I just think he's and idiot for throwing away his chance like that."

Suddenly, his nervousness melts away, and something heavier takes its place. Izuku instantly recognizes it as anger. It takes control of his actions, burning away at his insides, and he's running forward without even realizing it.

Running forward, being fueled by nothing but anger, Izuku thinks about Ojiro. It takes courage to do what he did. To throw away your chance at shining in the spotlight to do the right thing, that takes strength. Strength that Izuku has never had. And for that, Izuku admires him. Maybe that's why he's so angry right now.

Running forward, before he can stop himself, before he can think, he yells, "What do you know?! Don't talk abo-!" He suddenly gets cut off and he feels his entire body go numb. His body stops and when he tries to move, he finds himself unable to.

His momentary confusion is instantly forgotten as realizes what he just did.

_Oh no._


	32. Chapter 32

"That's it. I win."

He can faintly hear Present Mic saying something, but he blocks it out. All he can focus on is what Shinso is saying.

"So here we are. You're lucky to have been so blessed, Izuku Midoriya." His head tilts to the side, the same bored expression on his face. "Now turn around and walk out of bounds like a good little hero."

Without warning, Izuku feels his body turning around. His panic spikes but as much as he wills himself not to, he starts walking forward.

_What's happening?! I can't focus. It's like fog has completely covered my mind._

His feet won't stop no matter how hard he tries. They're moving as if they have a mind of their own. If he doesn't do something soon, he's going to lose. All of his and everyone else's hard will go to waste, and his quirk will forever be lost him. He can't afford to have this be the end!

Ojiro's words flash through his mind. _"I think I bumped into someone, and it was like I woke up. Suddenly, I was able to think clearly."_

That's right! All he has to do is get himself to trip or something. Then he'll snap out of it!

_That's easier said than done._ Every time he tries to move even a finger, it's like his body completely rejects him. Moving his leg enough to get himself to trip will be impossible.

_"Win this for you and me, okay?"_

_ I can't give up! Ojiro and everyone else are counting on me. No matter what, I have to win!_

The line is getting closer and he can feel his panic getting the better of him. Mentally closing his eyes, he focuses on breaking the control Shinsou has on him. He can feel him in the back of his mind, and he can also feel his body completely ignoring his attempts to stop it. The line is right in front of him.

Time seems to slow down as his foot moves forward. In a last ditch attempt to stop himself, he focuses hard than he's ever focused before.

_Come on!_ He thinks to himself. _I can do it! My quirk, my life is depending on this. Who knows what will happen if I fail this, so no matter what you have to win! I have to-!_

"Midoriya is out of bounds! Shinso advances to the next round."

Suddenly his body returns to him and he collapses onto the concrete. He may have control of his body again, but it still feels numb. He's failed.

"And with that strange turn of events, we have our first victor of the finals: Class 1-C's Hitoshi Shinso!"

All at once, the world comes crashing back down on him and the cheers of the stadium are deafening. The warm concrete feels rough underneath his hands while he stares at it and the faint breeze tousles his hair.

"Don't feel too bad," Izuku registers Shinso's voice behind him, "you lost so that I can become a hero. It's a noble cause, so you should be happy to help. That's what a hero is all about, right?"

Izuku numbly pushes himself off the ground and stumbles to his feet.

_They're still watching._

Turning around, Izuku gives Shinso a bright smile. "You're right! I hope you become a great hero one day!"

Shinso looks shocked, but the expression soon turns to anger. "That must be easy to say from where you're standing. You must have had it so easy in life. With your quirk you were probably just handed your spot in the hero course. I bet you didn't even have to work for it."

The familiar burn of anger is starting to rise in his stomach and soon Izuku's expression mirrors Shinso's. "How can you say?! You have no idea who I am or what I've been through! You don't even know if I _have_ a quirk!"

Shinso takes a step back, surprise written all over his face. "B-but-"

"You have an amazing quirk, Shinso. I'm actually kind of jealous." Izuku let's all of his anger flood out of his body and instead of scowling he gives Shinso a big smile. "Your quirk would be great for hero work." In front of him, Shinso stiffens. "Just imagine all the undercover work you could do. Interrogating villains would no problem, and your quirk would be perfect for calming down terrified civilians." Izuku shakes his head and laughs. "You would be an even better hero than me!"

At a loss for words, Shinso just shakes his head. "Why would you say that?"

Izuku spins around and right before he descends the stairs he glances back. "Because it's true." And with that he jogs down the stairs, completely pushing all of his thoughts to the side when they start screaming at him.

He reaches the bottom and right as he steps onto the grass a voice calls out behind him. "Midoriya!"

Looking back, Izuku sees Shinso still standing at the top of the stairs. "Yeah-?"

His body goes completely numb and he can feel Shinso's presence in the back of his mind again.

_ Huh? He got me again! But why? The match is over._

From above him, he hears Shinso talking. " I'm going to tell you two things and you are going to listen well." Izuku feels his entire mind focus on just Shinso and nothing else. If he had control of his body he would've shuddered.

"First, I'm sorry." The words seem to struggle out of his mouth. "And secondly," there's a long pause, "...you are a hero, and you deserve to be one. That's all."

Control suddenly returns to his body and Izuku nearly collapses onto the ground again but catches himself just in time. Looking up, he beams at Shinso while he looks away, an embarrassed blush makes its way across his face. "Thank y-"

He loses control of his body again and regains control just as soon as he had lost it. _Again? Seriously?_

"You know, usually people tense up when they talk to me. If you're not on guard, someone's going to defeat you, so be careful. You never know who's waiting to take advantage of you."

Izuku nods, but a stray thought crosses his mind. It's a little late for that.

Shaking the thought away, Izuku yells back up to him, "Got it!" ...and promptly loses control again. Above him, Shinso looks as annoyed as he is embarrassed._ I kind of missed the point there, didn't I?_ He thinks to himself.

After regaining his body back and waving goodbye to Shinso, he walks toward the exit. His earlier depression from losing had faded a bit, and he feels way lighter than before. But even still, the consequences of his loss weight on his shoulders like a noose.

"Hey, Izuku!" Caught off guard, he looks above the exit to see a bunch of his classmates waving and smiling at him.

Kirishima gives him a thumbs up. "You did a great job out there!"

"Yeah!" Mina shouts, "Don't sweat it. We're still proud of you!"

Iida nods, pushing up his glasses. "Logically speaking, breaking out of his quirk on your own would have been impossible."

Uraraka beams down at him. "Just the fact that you got this far means you're a winner to us!"

A bubbly feeling works it's way through and he laughs suddenly and completely. It surprises him. He can't remember the last time he's laughed so genuinely. He's laughed before of course, but this just felt...different. A good different.

Smiling up at all his friends, he yells back. "Thank you!" And he means it, from the bottom of his heart.

They seem to catch on and just continue waving. _Wow_, he thinks to himself, _how do I have such__ amazing friends?_

Even as he enters the tunnel leading out of the arena and out of everyone's gazes his smile remains on his face. He can't help it, it refuses to leave, and somehow he doesn't mind.

He continues walking, but it isn't long before someone approaches him from one of the branching hallways. It's All Might and he's in his weakened form.

All Might walks up to him as Izuku stops in surprise. "A-All Might? What are you doing here?"

He smiles sheepishly and raises a hand in greeting. "It's good to see you, young Midoriya. It just wanted to congratulate you."

Confused, Izuku tilts his head to the side, "But, I didn't win."

Chuckling, All Might places a skinny hand on his shoulder. "No, you didn't." Despite already being well aware of the fact, hearing it straight out of All Might's mouth slightly dampens his mood. "But you were amazing out there."

His brain stutters to a halt. "Huh? But I didn't even do anything."

All Might shakes his head. "Of course you did. I heard what you said to young Shinso, and I also heard what your friends said to you. You helped young Shinso today, and that's something to be proud of." Suddenly Steam bursts from his small body and then All Might is standing in front of him in his muscular form. "It's something a true hero would do. Never forget that!" Steam bursts from his form again and he turns back into his skeletal form.

Izuku smiles at All Might. "Thank you, All Might."

"No problem." He says. "Oh, but that's not all I wanted to talk to you about."

"What do you mean?"

He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "I was wondering if I could meet you mom?"

Izuku feels his body freeze as his mind goes into overdrive. "M-My what?"

"Your mom." He says, completely unaware of his panic. "I read on your father is working overseas on your student registry, so I was wander if I could talk to your mom. Oh," he seems to catch on to his mood and his shoulders slump slightly, "I overstepped, didn't I. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No no no, you didn't overstep! I was just surprised is all." He quickly says.

All Might perks up. "Oh good, I was worried there for a second. So is that a yes?"

Izuku shakes his head slowly. "Sorry, but no." There no way he can say yes, not when his mom is...he pushes the thought away. "My mom works a lot so she isn't home most of the time."

All Might sags dejectedly, "I see. Can you tell me where she works then? Maybe I can talk to her there."

He thinks fast, quickly coming up with an answer. "O-oh, um, I...c-can't seem to recall! I-It must have j-just slipped my mind. Sorry!"

"It's alright. No need to apologize, it happens to the best of us." He straightens up and smiles at Izuku. "I need to get going. The next match will start soon, so you should hurry too."

Relief floods his body as his horrible excuse is acceptable to the number one and quickly takes the out. "R-Right! I can't miss a single fight!" It really does sound kind of ridiculous, but he figures if he can't carry his classmates to victory, then he'll support them in any means necessary.

With this mind, he waves goodbye to his teacher and turns to walk towards his friends.

...Where are the stands again?


End file.
